A Different Path
by peachappeal
Summary: What if Clementine was twelve during the events that take place in Season One? Will she act differently towards people? Will people act differently towards her now because of her increase in age? Rated T for swearing and violence. Told from Clementine's POV (Aged 12.)
1. Chapter 1: Goodbye, Sandra

"Sandra," I tell her, beaming my eyes at her, "You're not my parent. Don't boss me around. I don't understand why my parents left you here to take care of me. I can take care of myself. You're like, sixteen, making me four years younger than you. This is just ridiculous," I crossed my arms. "It's only a two week vacation for them, I could handle myself for that period of time."

Sandra glared at me, rolling her eyes over to the small cut on my hand I got from slicing bread. "Clearly," she replied sarcastically. "And besides, your parents aren't here, they left _me _in charge." She paused for a second, hesitating a bit. "I'm going to try my best to say this in a way little kids like you understand," she says, taking a step closer to me. "Since _I'm _in charge, you do what I say." She smirked, feeling as if she had won the argument. I frowned, turning my head to look at the floor.

I sighed deeply and turned away from her. "Whatever," I uttered, walking up the stairs into my bedroom. I felt her eyes burning on me as I walked away.

She was always cold, and she always spoke to me in a condescending way. She'd been taking care of me since I was eight, and stopped when I was ten. But at this age, according to my parents, she was required to look after me for their two-week vacation. She'd appear like an angel in front of my parents, grinning while she received her payment from them, but rolling her eyes while facing me.

It was about 4:00. It was a school day, Friday to be more specific, and of course, teachers never abstained when it came to handing out homework, especially on weekends. I took out my textbooks and notebooks. Social Studies, Language Arts, and Math. Of course I had to have the three most boring subjects in school. I groaned, tilting my head up. Teachers never really looked into checking my homework, they would always take a quick glance or two to see if I'd done it, and then they would check it off in their grade book. So usually, I would jot down some random answer or whatever. I wasn't a perfect straight-A student, although my parents wished that I was.

I glanced back up at the decorated clock in my room. 4:06. _It can wait, _I thought, shoving my textbooks and notebooks off my desk, because really, who wants do homework on Fridays? _Why not watch some TV for the time being? It wouldn't hurt for a minute or two. _

Of course, I forgot that I lost my remote for the TV two nights ago. Never getting up from my chair, I scanned my bedroom for my remote. It was a mess, it would be impossible to find it without standing up and taking in the energy to find it. I sighed, standing up from the chair, rummaging for the remote.

I went for the least obvious place to find, well, anything that I'd lose in my room. I stuck my hand under my closet, my hand feeling something solid. I perked up, feeling as if I'd already found the remote. I grabbed the object. I praised myself for finding the remote, but an unpleasant smell took over my nose. Flinching and turning my head away, I examined the closet from underneath once more, only to find a box of three day old taquitos. I shrugged. _I can pick it up later._

I pointed the remote at the TV. It immediately turned on. It was last left on the WABE news channel. And as usual, there was Carley, the skinny woman who always reported live on afternoons. I wanted to change the channel, since the news always appeared to be boring to me, but a lot of times, she screwed up a lot reporting live. It was actually pretty funny. Like, this one time, she would mess up on one of her lines, and the camera man had to "whisper" them to her. She looked like an idiot, but as I mentioned earlier, it _was _funny when she screwed up at certain times. She's the reason why I watch the news, believe it or not.

"_So here we are attending the Cherry Blossom festival in Macon," she began, clearing her throat. "Everyone's enjoying themselves and it seems like they're, they're, uh-" _she hesitated, turning her head away from the camera, her attention getting caught by some unfamiliar noise, looking at, I think, people walking slower than usual and groaning. It was very unusual, and I could now see why she had hesitated. I was so perplexed now, at this unfamiliar sight, but this other woman suddenly stood in front of the camera, glaring at Carley.

"_What the fuck are you doing!" The woman barked, pointing her finger into Carley's chest, "Carley, I told you that if you screw this up again you're-"_

A thing, coming out from nowhere, the ones that I believe Carley was looking at the distance, don't exactly know how to describe it, sunk its teeth into the woman, dragging her down onto the floor screaming in pain. Her blood squirted out from her neck, Carley immediately took a step back, looking away in disgust.

"_HELP ME!"_ She cried, trying her best to catch her breath, but the thing tore her stomach open, eating out one of her intestines. I jumped up a little after that, and felt nauseous, acid reaching all the way up to my throat. She lay in her own pool of blood, lifeless, her eyes rolled up. The camera tilted over to Carley, who was looking away from the camera and violently throwing up.

I could hear so much screaming going on in the background, and loud noises of groans. The TV screen suddenly went black. Over and over, I kept thinking to myself, _what just happened? It looked nothing like a gimmick, seeming that a woman was laying in her own pool of REAL blood! No ordinary thing could actually rip someone's skin open!_

"AAAAAHH!" I heard a scream, presumably coming from downstairs, coming from, I think it was Sandra. I never heard her scream like that at once during my lifetime of knowing her. She must have really hurt herself with something, I believe.

"Sandra?" I called out rushing out my room, running down the stairs into the living room.

I was wrong. She didn't hurt herself with something, _something _was hurting _her. _I saw her in the living room, with one of those things as seen on telivision, she was on the floor and it was on top of her. Seeming as if they were tackling, she was trying with all her strength to get it off her. I never took my eyes off that thing. It spewed blood out of its mouth, dripping it all over Sandra. She tried to scratch its eyes out with her nails, but she flinched at its smell. She frantically looked at me, desperate for help. "AAAHH! NOOO! GET OFF ME! CLEMEN-"

It was too late. It took a bite out of her chest, her blood staining the carpet around her. I panicked. I was so confused to what was going on around here. I could hear screams and cries of pain from the outside. I felt like the whole world was coming to an end. I really had no idea as to why there were human-like corpses roaming the town, eating people.

So transfixed in with my own thoughts, I hadn't realized that the thing was finished with eating Sandra. She looked disgusting, as her skin was pale and how a huge wound was evident on her chest. I swallowed my own vomit. It groaned, slowly making its way towards me, its arms stretched out. I panted heavily, backing away from it, not so sure where to run off to away from this thing. Panicking, I ran through the sliding glass door in the dining room which led to the backyard, closing it behind me. I looked for possible escape routes, but there was no way out of my backyard as there were three of the human-like corpses scratching at the gate, which was my only possible exit out of the backyard.

I then looked up at my tree house, one of the things that I dreaded so much, but it could save my life. _They can't get me if I'm all the way up here, _I thought. _Maybe they would go away as time passes._

I scrambled up the ladder of the tree house, causing me to temporarily almost lose my footing. I gasped as my fingers almost slipped off the ladder, but I still managed to maintain my grip, quickly entering it through the sliding wooden door. I closed it quickly once I was inside. I sighed, and took a peek outside through the cracks of the tree house. The thing was still clawing at the sliding glass door, desperate to get out. More of the corpses gathered up, packed around the backyard gate.

I softly cried. It really feels like this is the end. The screaming of the people and my neighbors never stopped. I could hear more groaning noises by the second, never seeming to end. The forest, which was behind our backyard gate, seemed to be crawling with dozens of them. I pressed my hands tightly against my ears.

Would I be next?


	2. Chapter 2: You seem familiar

_**I Just wanted to thank all the people who have supported/reviewed/favorite/followed/etc.  
You all give me confidence and get my hopes up into writing more chapters.**_

* * *

**3 Hours Later.**

I was trapped in my own tree house. I don't know how many are inside my house, outside the gate, or outside the perimeter of the backyard fence. I brought my knees to my chest, hugging them, in an attempt to calm down. It seems like this epidemic had already took control over here in Atlanta and Macon. If it took over in Savannah, the place where my parents were staying at over their two-week vacation, that would truly make my worse fear come true.

I frantically started searching my treehouse for anything useful. Food, water, and maybe, when worse comes to worse, a weapon in case I've ever had to come across one of those things. I started searching in my toy box I would always play with when I was eight. I found a juice box and a pack of Oreo's. I also found some graham crackers and a half-full bottle of water.

I peeked out through the tiny window of the tree house. The human-corpses started walking off one-by-one away from the gate of my backyard, as if they had finally given up on trying to get into my backyard. The corpse that was clawing at the sliding glass door a few hours ago was nowhere to be seen now. It had gotten darker, maybe more close to sunset. I still heard some groaning noises, but they weren't as loud as they were a few hours back. I continued to search the rest of the tree house, but I didn't find anything else that was useful except for a hammer. I held onto it, just in case.

I looked down at the collected food and drinks I found in the treehouse. _Good, but not enough, _I thought, _this would only be good enough to last me the night. If only I could get enough food from the house to last me at least a week….._

The whole lot of my house seemed to be fairly quiet, no groaning noises or anything. Now was my chance. I grabbed my hammer that lay next to me and I slid the wooden door of the tree house quietly open, fearing that I would attract these things with noise. I quickly plopped down the ladder of my tree house. Pressing my feet into the ground, I looked around, checking my surroundings.

"Phew, no lurkers around," I sighed with relief, approaching the sliding glass door of the backyard cautiously. I looked inside, I didn't see any of them. I slid the door open. The house really was empty. _But first, I should see if there are any weapons in the house I could use._

I passed the living room, approaching the staircase. I saw the rug that was stained with Sandra's blood a few hours ago. It was still there. Something seemed out of place though….. Sandra's corpse wasn't in the same place as it was a few hours ago after she died….. It's gone now….. Oh well. Should keep that in mind, I guess.

I made my way upstairs, heading over to my parents bed room. _That place HAS to have some kind of weapon, it just has to!_

Opening the door to my parents' bedroom, it creaked open very loudly, which wasn't a good thing at all. To start off, I started searching into one of the bedside tables. I yanked the drawer open finding… well… uh, something that was definitely not a weapon. I searched the other bedside table and found more useless crap. Same with their dressers, useless crap.

I opened one of their closet doors, rummaging through inside. Nothing. But… something caught my full attention, and I lighten up happily, seeing if there was something actually useful. A safe! Lucky for me, the key was already in its lock. I reach out to turn it, and I lighten up once I looked in the safe's contents.

A Beretta Inox 92FS. I took it out of the safe, examining it. This belonged to my daddy. He took it over to a shooting range a lot to practice his shooting. I never really pulled the trigger of the gun, but when mom wasn't around, he taught me the proper posture to hold the pistol. I tucked the gun into the back of my pants, I also took the box of the 9mm rounds that was alongside the pistol in the safe. I'm keeping them, my hat and his gun, as my memento of him.

I exit the room, closing it on my way out. I hear a groan briefly, and my heart starts pounding through my chest. It sounded like, a _lurker _groan, but this one was soft and quiet, and it sounded like it was coming from my room. For the best, I made my way downstairs quickly, but silently. I didn't want to lure it out of my room with the noise.

I went into the kitchen, opening cabinets filled with canned goods. I took a couple of them, such as canned Progresso soups and Campbells, along with some dried foods, like anchovies and some Doritos. Accidentally, I dropped a canned soup onto the floor, making a loud noise and denting its edge. I gasp, rushing over to the can, picking it up. The lurker groan gets louder as I feel it approach the staircase, making its way down. Without hesitation, I grabbed onto all the food I could fit onto my hands, and hurried out of the kitchen into the backyard, not looking back at all, in fear that the lurker could be right behind me. I shut the glass door loudly on my way out.

I tossed all of the food and the box of ammo high up through the window of my tree house, climbing my way up and shutting the wooden door behind me. I peered through the tree house window to find a lurker behind the sliding glass door feebly punching the glass in an attempt to get out.

This may sound crazy… but it looked… familiar. It had a huge wound on its chest. It had short, ginger hair. A plaid skirt. It looked just like…. _"Sandra," _I breathed out, widening my eyes in disbelief.

No that wasn't Sandra. That was…. Something else.

My eyes watered as I saw the "new" Sandra violently clawing at the glass door. I mean, I did hate her, but there was another part of me that just felt, sorry for her.


	3. Chapter 3: Obese Dude

**11 Hours Later**

I was passed out on the beanbag chair in my tree house. I was sound asleep, but I had that desperate feeling of needing to use the bathroom. My sleeping was ruined by a sudden slam against… glass?

I lift my head up looking out my tree house window. I saw this bald, 300 pound man wearing a muscle T – Shirt, with arm pit hair that was at least, 3 feet long. "I NEED A FUCKING TV!" he whined, continuing to slam him fists against the glass. "THE WORLD'S GONE TO SHIT AND AT LEAST I NEED TO KEEP MYSELF ENTERTAINED WITH SOMETHING!"

_The door's open, you dumbass, _I thought, considering that he was bruising his fists for no reason. But whatever. I didn't need this fat ass causing any more noise. And for what? Just for him to lure more of them here? Hell no. I took out the Beretta Inox from the back of my pants, aiming it directly at the obese man's head. My right index finger began to gradually squeeze the trigger, until Sandra suddenly planted her reanimated body against the sliding glass door. I lowered my gun. She groaned and her dark, blackish blood stained the glass door.

"Shit!" The obese man spat in fear, running away from the glass door. He smoothly jumped over the white Pickett fence in my yard, landing in the next-door backyard. To be honest, his parkour skills amazed me for an obese man. Thankfully, Sandra showed up when she did. It would've been a waste of a bullet anyways. And besides – The gunshot would attract lurkers for miles.

**8 Hours Later**

I was getting very bored and lonely after spending one day, all alone. My phone battery had died, it was no use calling my friends from school. They had probably either evacuated the city or just… died. I exhaled. There was nothing here to do in this stupid tree house. All there was were boring kiddie books, boring kiddie toys, and a kiddie play mat. But, I guess it's better than doing nothing. I walked over to the bookshelf that contained all my kiddie books, but I suddenly tripped over something in the tree house, landing face first onto the wooden floor.

"Owww," I mumbled, smoothing my face out with my hands.

Sitting, I turned around to see what I've tripped on. I noticed a loose wooden floorboard that was sticking out, and a little black stick poking out from underneath it.

Curious to what that thing was, I pulled the black stick, revealing itself to be a walkie talkie. I turned the walkie over to check if it contained batteries, which it did. I clipped it onto my belt. I remembered that my parents kept at least two walkies in the kitchen drawers. Of course though, I'm not going to go into my house right this second with Sandra being inside.

_This Walkie might actually become useful._


	4. Chapter 4: Blue Shirt Guy

It was now, I believe it was a Sunday. I was starting to lose track of time in minutes and hours. My hair had become very tangled, almost making it impossible to run a brush through it. Pimples were all over my face, and my breath stank.

I lifted up my drowsy body off the pink bean bag. I've been thinking it all over. I could go inside my house, kill reanimated Sandra with a hammer, and get myself cleaned up. That is, if the water's still working.

But first, I wanted something to eat. I was really craving some KFC now, but the nearest KFC was probably destroyed, lurkers roaming inside the restaurant. That option was off the table. I sighed, and pulled the lid of the Progresso soup open. I took 3 sips of the cold chicken broth, along with three small, sliced carrots. _Fried chicken, _I kept thinking over and over in my head. All of those privileges were now gone in this new world that we were so suddenly forced to live in. Shopping with friends, restaurants, parties, it's like, what's the point of living now? And my parents…. God… I don't even want to think about that. They could be… for all I know… dead. My eyes started to water. Just thinking about that made me… sick. Thinking that lurkers might have got them. But, I always knew that they would want the best for me and that they wanted me to be safe.

I slumped deeper into my pink bean bag, looking up at the ceiling of my tree house. I daydreamed. I started to think back into all the good times I had had with my friends and family. The times I was sent to detention for cursing my math teacher out. Not that I would want to remember that, but it just brought back the feelings of when everything in this world was normal. Those just seemed to be destroyed the more I thought about it.

Something drags me out of my thoughts as soon as I hear a loud gunshot. It was like, a shotgun gunshot, since it was so loud. _A survivor? An actual Human being?_ I perked up, releasing myself from my daydreams. I opened the door to my tree house as I exited, leaving it wide open, in case I quickly had to run back inside for safety. I turned my head to where the loud gunshot came from. _Behind the fence, into the forest._

"Shit," I silently muttered. Who knows how much lurkers could be in the forest? _Damn, living in a world like this, I'm going to need the help from some other people. It should be worth risking it._

I climbed over my white pickett fence that led straight into the forest. Squinting from this distance, I noticed a man with a blue shirt, leaning against a door of a… police car?

He tilted his head over to look at me, seeming to notice me. "Help! Go get someone! There's been a uh-shooting!" He stammered, panicking at the same time. He was sitting down, his legs spread out in front of him. _What was he doing here in the middle of a forest?_

I quickly climbed over the pickett fence leading to my backyard, noticing several lurkers gathering up behind him. Over the fence, I rushed my way inside the opened tree house door, shutting it on my way inside.

The lurkers noises grew louder and louder, approaching the perimeter of the fence. My breathing had escalated. _Maybe blue shirt guy didn't make it after all._

Suddenly, I hear a grunt, and heard something hit the ground. I heard something ruffling against the grass in my backyard, and then something banged against my deck. I looked through the peephole of the tree house. My eyes widened. _Blue shirt guy. _He leaned against the deck, panting heavily. The lurkers that were after him kept clawing against my white pickett fence, trying to form a little pyramid in an attempt to climb over it. Luckily, they were easily caught off guard, as another gunshot rang through the air, luring them away from the fence.

Blue Shirt Guy stood up, he barely made it up to his feet. He made his next move in my backyard, limping over near my tree house. Luckily, my hammer was right next to me, and my Beretta Inox was still in the back of my pants, fully loaded. I cracked the tree house door open just a bit, to get a good look at what he was doing. I held a tight grip on the hammer.

"Hello?" He called, "anybody up there?" I gave him no response, in fear that he might start to attack me.

I opened the door all the way as he turned around. I threw the hammer hard on his head, causing him to plummet down onto the grass.

"OOF!" He exclaimed, trembling down onto the floor, his back landing on the grass along with his whole body.

Now was my chance. I stood at the very edge of the tree house door and I jumped on top of chest, forcing all of his air out. I pinned him onto the ground with my knees, quickly pulling out my Beretta Inox from the back of my jeans and pointed the barrel of the gun to his forehead.

"Hold it, asshole," I snarled, keeping a tight grip on my gun. I tried to keep a formidable expression on my face, kind of wanting to frighten him.

He had a completely startled expression on his face, as if he couldn't keep up on what was going on.

"Woah, woah, kid, calm down," he retorted, struggling to lift himself out of my pin.

I placed the actual barrel of the gun on the man's forehead, he shivered a bit at the cold touch of the barrel, immediately lying back down in my pin.

"I don't want to shoot you, sir," I reasoned, "I just want to know why you're here, at my house."

He started to move his lips, but before he could say anything, I felt something warm leak onto my jeans near the ankle. Instantly, my concentration on pinning him onto the ground went away.

"What the hell?" I jumped up, releasing him from my pin. I looked down at my ankle to see that the jeans that were covering it was soaking with blood. I glanced over at his legs, only to find that his right knee had received a cut, warm blood seeping out onto his jeans.

He struggled to get up. Finally getting his balance back, his eyes focused down at me. "So as you can see here," he says, gesturing over to his wounded leg, "I got this in a car accident, I just came here for a little help. I was looking for no trouble at all." He stares at me for a while, eyeing me up and down. "You look very young," he began, kneeling to my height, "Where are your parents?"

I sighed. I felt like changing the subject once he asked me that. "They went on vacation in Savannah. You know, where all the boats are." I stared past his huge figure, really not wanting to continue. "They left me with a babysitter. She got eaten by one of those… things. My parents, I don't think they made it," I frowned, being faced with the harsh view of reality. "I'm twelve, by the way, if that matters."

He gives me a sympathetic look. "Look, I don't know what happened to your parents, but until then, I'll look after you," he grins, telling me this in a soothing tone. "My name's Lee." He was obviously trying to gain my trust at his first impression, but I was still very doubtful.

I crossed my arms, a skeptic expression took over my face. "Are you a pedophile?" I bluntly asked.

His face flinches in disgust. "No! Why would you say that?" He inquired in a serious tone, tilting his head.

"Okay, then. Why were you so eager to take care of me then? You're a stranger to me!" I hissed.

"Because I'm not willing to leave a little girl behind to die from one of those things!" He conceded, slightly annoyed at my accusation.

"I can take care of myself," I sneered, giving him the impression that I was mature. "I was camping up in my tree house for two nights, and I've got plenty of food and water, so I don't need _your _help," I snapped, scrunching my nose.

"Oh really?" He commented, a little skeptic in his voice, "What happens if you run _out _of food and water? You can't just walk out and go to the supermarket now with those things out there!" He says, gesturing his hand over at the forest behind the fence.

I looked down, my face softening up a bit. He was right. Eventually I would run out of food and water. I promptly thought back to the dispute that Sandra and I had about two days ago, mentioning how I wasn't ready to take care of myself. _They were both right. I was just not ready yet._

I exhaled heavily, noticing my flimsy attempt at trying to win an argument against an adult. "Fine," I confessed, uncrossing my arms, "I'll go with you. I'm…. Clementine… by the way, seems like something you should know," I blurted out awkwardly.

Let's see how things turn out with this guy.


	5. Chapter 5: Hello Again

**AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL WHO HAVE POSTED A NICE REVIEW ON THIS.**

**I APPRECIATE IT A LOT. :)**

**I WILL TRY TO ADD ANOTHER CHAPTER IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS OR SO**

**PECE OUT**

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"So… what do we do now?" I asked, swaying my arms back and forth.

"We need to find help before it gets dark," he advised.

"Yeah," I agreed, "It's not safe here at night."

As weird as this was, I extended my hand out so that it was holding his hand.

"Let's go," He persisted, keeping a firm grip on my hand. "Stay close to me."

We both started walking towards the backyard gate. I stopped walking along with him, though, as I realized that I almost forgot something, back at my house.

"Why'd you stop?" He questioned, releasing my hand as he kneeled to my height. "Did you leave something behind?" A look of worry was evident on his face.

"Well, I uhm, I kind of left something back _inside _my house, a walkie talkie," I admitted. "I thought it could come in handy for you, since I already have one." I turned around, revealing my walkie talkie that was clipped onto my belt.

"It should be easy to go in there and get it, _right?" _He queried, by the looks of his face, he was expecting a positive and a simple answer from me. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

"Well, uhh, about _that," _I began, scratching the back of my head. He scrunched his nose, appearing frightened about what he was going to hear. "My reanimated babysitter is inside my house."

"What do you mean, _reanimated?!" _He asked suspiciously, his facial expression turning angered.

"What I mean is that… those lurkers got to her, ripped her chest out," I bleated. Lee flinched in disgust just by hearing all those words come together. "And now…. She's one of them. I don't know whether or not she's still in there."

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, "Okay, okay, we gotta make this quick. You got a weapon on you, right?"

I nod, taking out my hammer and handing it over to him. But to my surprise, when I did so, he didn't accept it.

"You know, Clementine," He began awkwardly, "I think that I should take the gun. No offense, but do you even know how to use one?" He asks, enraging me.

I scowled at him. "Don't question me!" I blurt out angrily. "So here's how this is going to work," I snapped, "I get the gun, you get the hammer, got it?"

He shakes his head at himself, goggled his eyes over at the gravel pavement beneath him, and crossed his arms.

"Fine," he utters loudly, uncrossing his arms. He gestures his hand over to grab the hammer I'm holding in my hand, which I handed it to him.

"Good then," I simpered, "Let's go then," I stated, pulling my gun out and heading towards the sliding glass door, Lee following me.

I pressed my ear against the cold glass door, searching for nearby groans coming from Sandra. Lucky for Lee and me, I heard none. Steadily, I slid the glass door open, holding it open so that Lee could come in too. Although, as soon as I walked in, something promptly caught my attention. The answering machine was blinking, a red light kept flashing from the machine as each second passed by.

"It wasn't like that before…" I noted, approaching the device. I pressed the button, the one that reviews all the voice messages. The answering machine immediately started reviewing all the messages.

_Three New Messages. Message one. Left at five-forty-three p.m._

_Hey, Sandra, this is Diana. We're still in Savannah. Ed had a little 'incident' with some crazy guy near the hotel, so we had to get him back to the ER and have it checked out. Anyway, he's not feeling well enough to drive back tonight, so we're staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine, and I promise we'll be back in time before your spring break!_

_Message two. Left at eleven-nine-teen p.m._

_Oh my god, finally! I don't know if you tried to reach us; all the calls are getting dropped. They're not letting us leave and aren't telling us anything about Atlanta. Please, please, just leave the city and take Clementine with you back to Marietta. I've got to get back to the hospital. Please let me know that you're safe._

_Message three. Left at six-fifty-one a.m._

_Clementine? Baby, if you can hear this, call the police. That's 9-1-1. We love you… we love you… we love y-_

The message was cut off shorty after.

I shot my eyes up at Lee, who looked, sympathetic, he didn't even say a word after the last message.

"I," I started, feeling my throat closing up as I continued, "I think I heard them die."

I began to sob. I pulled my sweatshirt over my face and sobbed softly, not wanting to give Lee the impression of me being an immature girl. I felt his arms pull me into a hug. Forgetting that he was a stranger, I cried freely onto his chest, the sounds being muffled.

He let go of me, looking down at me with calm eyes. "I'm so sorry, Clementine," he says, almost in a whisper.

I pulled my head out of my sweatshirt. "Thanks," I sniffled, my eyes burning with tears. I wanted to get out of this embarrassing moment as soon as possible. I glanced over to the kitchen, to where I believed I last saw the extra walkie talkie.

"We should go get the walkie talkie," Lee suggested, smiling.

"Yeah," I assented, leading the way. We both came near this pool of blood staining the entrance of the kitchen. _Sandra was by here, _I thought, as we both inched around the pool of blood to get into the kitchen. I rummaged through the drawer next to the sink. A paperclip, a tack, a wooden spoon, a fork, a recipe book… AHA! A walkie. I grasped onto it and I held it up, so that Lee could see it.

"Here," I offered, handing the walkie over to him, "This is for you to hold onto." I continued to search the other drawers, but unfortunately, I found nothing of use, or any other walkies. "You know, I thought that it would be a good idea for both of us to hold onto a walkie, in case one of us ends up into some trouble."

"That's smart," he praised, clipping the walkie talkie onto his belt. I grinned, feeling proud that I did something good, enough to impress an adult.

Suddenly, I noticed something emerge behind Lee. Something approaching him slowly with its arms stretched out, going over to grab Lee.

I quickly realize what that is. "Sandra!" I shriek, backing myself away.

"Huh?" Lee's expression turns into a confused gaze, but as soon as he looks to where my eyes are pointing at, Sandra, without hesitation, pushes him back onto the floor.

"OH SHIT!" He blurted, as his body was pushed down onto the hard kitchen floor, his hammer falling out of his pocket.

Sandra jumped on top of him, in defense, he took her arms into his hands, struggling to get her off of him.

"Clementine! Help!" He pleaded, trying to kick Sandra off of him.

I pulled my piece out from the back of my jeans, pointing the barrel of the gun at Sandra's head. I pulled the trigger, causing a loud gunshot to loudly hit the blue plant pot over on the dining room table.

"FUCK! GET THE HAMMER! GET THE HAMMER!" He pleaded, trying to claw out Sandra's solid, white eyes.

I rushed over to grab the hammer lying down three feet away from him. Diving in to take a chomp out of Lee's neck, I swung the claw of the hammer against Sandra's head to stop her from making any further advances to bite Lee. She flew across the kitchen like a ragdoll, slamming against one of the kitchen cabinets. I took another swing at her head, her black blood spewing all over my face and sweatshirt. She groaned deeply, as her face trickled with her own dark blood. I took a final swing – this one taking me a while to get the hammer out of her skull. Although, I finished, creating such a gruesome look on her face, both her eye sockets popping out.

I turned around, to find Lee bending over with both of his hands on his knees, panting heavily. He looked up at me, forcing a smile.

"Thanks for having my back," he expressed his gratitude, still panting from the incident with Sandra.

"No problem, we're a team now, we got to look out for each other's backs, right?" I mused, raising up one corner of my mouth into a smile.

"Yeah, I guess we do," he concurred, his breathing state now normal.

"So… should we leave to go get help now?" I asked, repeatedly standing up and down on my tippy toes.

"Well, considering that your babysitter almost ate me… yeah. This seems like a good time to go."


	6. Chapter 6: Hershel's Farm

**AUTHORS NOTE: HELLO ALL**

**ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR TODAY, I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT**

**I'M SORRY THAT IT TOOK A LITTER LONGER THAN IT HAD TO TO SHOW UP IN THE ARCHIVES, I HAD SOME DIFFICULTY TRYING TO UPLOAD THIS CHAPTER.**

**PLEASE DON'T HATE ON ME IF THIS CHAPTER SHOWS UP A BIT LATER THAN USUAL**

* * *

We both reached the back gate of the backyard, and we both seemed to notice the two men outside of the gate, trying to push a car out of their way. One of them had short, black hair. He wore khakis and a green shirt. The other, a little bit overweight, had mid-length brown hair, along with jeans and a white t-shirt.

"Maaan…" the green t-shirt guy groaned, presumably exhausted of trying to push the car out of his way.

"I ain't never getting home to mama at this rate," the overweight man sighed.

"Well this sucks," the green t-shirt guy retorted, placing his hands on his hips.

"It's hot dish night," the overweight man murmured, disappointed he won't get to his meal in time.

After catching their breaths, the two men proceeded to push the green car out of their way.

I tilted my head up to look at Lee. "Open the gate?" I whispered.

He nods, I nod back. As steadily as I opened the backyard gate, it still made such a loud creaking noise, but it didn't seem to catch their attention, yet.

"Hey man!" Lee calls out, causing them both to jolt their bodies around, facing us in fear.

"HOLY SHIT!" the overweight man exclaimed, raising up both of his hands in panic. "DON'T EAT US!"

"We're not going to hurt you," Lee expressed calmly, raising both of his hands in the air.

"Phew, I thought you and the little one were both going to give us – holy shit!" He shrieked, eyeing me up and down. "What the hell happened to you, kid?" Eventually, the three men that stood in front of me were all staring at me in shock.

I turned my head down, looking at my clothing. They were drenched in black blood. _Sandra's blood._ I still kind of felt the blood dry up on my face. I did look worse than I thought.

"I had to take one out, in there," I honestly replied, gesturing over to my house.

"Shit… that's fucked up," the green t-shirt man quivered. "You guys really should try to get out of here. Those things are all over the place. I haven't seen anything as gnarly as this neighborhood since downtown Atlanta, fifteen miles back." He pointed his finger to his chest, "I'm Shawn. Shawn Green."

"I'm Lee," Lee introduced, "And this is Clementine."

"I'm Chet," the overweight man introduced, kneeling down at my height and waving his hand at me.

"We shouldn't be out in the open like this," Shawn informed. "How about you help us clear the way and we'll take you and your daughter out of here, and down to my family's farm. It should be safer there," he assures.

"I'm not her dad…. I'm her babysitter," Lee corrected, scratching the back of his head. "Her parents are out of town." My eyes glistened at the mention of my parents, but I tried real hard not to show it.

"Let's get going, staying put for too long is a mistake," Shawn said.

Lee nods, his head turns down to face me. "What do you want to do?" He asks.

"I…." I began uneasily, only to have the groaning of the lurkers interrupt me.

"Them monsters comin'! WE GOTTA GO!" Chet insisted, taking cover from his red pickup truck.

Lee and Shawn quickly rushed to push the green car out of the pickup truck's path. I quickly rushed over to help them. My skinny arms wiggled as I pushed the car away.

It was done. They were coming in closer. Lee and I quickly rushed into the back seat of the pickup truck. Shawn took the wheel. And as for Chet, he belly flopped into the tail of the pickup truck.

I was going to miss my home, all of my memories were back there. The good ones; the ones I had before all of this madness started. The memories of my parents and Sandra. But, they were dead. I didn't see any point of staying in my house longer. And for what? To die? I was glad Lee found me when I did, because he may be all I have left.

I didn't look back.

* * *

Nightfall came as we drove to the farm. The moon glowed in the dark, almost pitch black, night sky. There was a touch of humidity in the air, making me sweat a bit. The truck entered the vicinity of the farm, shaking at every little pebble it ran over. Shawn drove the pickup in front of a small little house, which looked so tiny compared to the huge red barn that stood high up across from it.

Shawn, Lee, and I exited the vehicle, slamming the doors on our way out. Chet, however, clumsily crawled out of the tail of the pickup truck.

"Hey Shawn," Chet said, grabbing his attention, "I'm a' run on home. My Mama's gon' be in a snit," he informed, stretching his arms.

"No sweat, man. I'll catch you tomorrow night," he replied in an understanding way.

Chet shorty turned to face us. "It was nice to meet ya both," he lilted, heading towards the front gate to leave.

I hear the door to the house swing open, catching both me and Lee's attention. There was this old dude who came out, possibly Shawn's father.

"Thank god you're okay," the old man sighed in relief, walking over to Shawn.

"I was worried it'd be bad here, too," Shawn admitted, embracing the old man into a hug.

"Been quiet as usual the past couple of days," the old man said, "Ol' Breckon down the way thinks his mare's gone lame, but that ain't nothing new."

"I wouldn't had made it back without Chet," Shawn crooned.

"Well, I'm glad you took him with you, then."

The old man turned his body to face Lee and I. "You brought a couple of guests," he noticed.

"We... We just need a place to stay," Lee told him.

"Well, I don't run a bed and breakfast," the old man joked, "But you're welcome to stay for the night. It's just you and your daughter, right?"

"Not his daughter," Shawn interrupted, "he's the babysitter."

"Honey," he began, crouching down to my height, "Do you know this man?"

Lee gave me a worried look as the old man asked me that question, afraid that I might answer him, 'no.'

"Of course I do!" I blurted, talking to the old man as if he were an idiot. "He's my babysitter." I glanced back up at Lee, his facial expression calming.

"You didn't have to lash out on me, girl," he spat, furrowing his eyebrows, "But, okay then. That's good enough for me."

He stood up from his crouching position, ogling his eyes over at Lee's swollen leg. "Looks like you hurt your leg pretty bad there," he pointed out.

"Yeah..." Lee sighed, taking a quick glance at his wound. "It's not doing so good."

"I can help you out," he offered, "Shawn, run on in and check on your sister. And you," he points his finger at Lee, "You go take a seat up on the porch and I'll go see what I got."

The old man speed-walked his way into the house, while Lee took a seat on the bench of the porch. I stood on the top of the stairs of the porch, the porch light shining it's light all over me. I wrapped my arm around the column of the porch, waiting for the old man to stitch Lee up.

He came back to the porch, holding some wrapping bandages in his hand. I glanced up at him, only to find his face frozen with horror, his eyes unblinking. He couldn't take his eyes off me.

"Jesus..." he breathed out, "What happened to you? You look terrible." I had no idea what he was talking about at first, and a little perplexed as well. But as soon as I gazed down to look at my clothing, I understood his shock.

"This actually happened quite a few hours ago," I explained uneasily, "I had to take out one of those things out with a hammer. And... that's how I ended up like _this."_

"Oh sweetheart, I'm sorry you had to go through that," he expressed sympathetically. "I'll tell you what; you can go get yourself cleaned up in the bathroom. It's down the hall, to the left," he gestured his arm to the house, practically insisting me to get myself cleaned up.

I nod, and made my way inside the house. It smelled like pig lard and cheese, which made my stomach turn. I entered the bathroom, heading straight for the mirror. _I really did look terrible. _Black, dried blood stained my cheeks, and marks of blood were smothered against my sweatshirt. _I can't believe I forgot about all of this. _I sighed, and turned the faucet on. I splashed the cold water against my face, the blood turning lighter as the the water mixed into it. I flinched at the foul smell, pinching my nostrils. I spread more water around my face, drying it off with a towel that hung off a towel ring.

Although, as for my sweatshirt, there was nothing much that I could do. I soaked the towel with warm water, patting it around the bloodstained areas. It really didn't make much of a difference, the dark blood was still pretty noticeable on my sweatshirt. I had given all of my hopes up, noticing that it was useless trying to clean out the blood from my sweatshirt. I exited the bathroom, making my way out onto the porch of the house. Standing before me, were Lee and the old man.

The old man grinned at me. "Better, you look better without blood splattered all over your face, darlin'." He chuckled. "By the way, I don't think I've introduced myself. My name's Hershel Greene."

"I'm Clementine," I reply.

"Looks like you couldn't clean the sweatshirt," He noted, the giant stain still visible.

"It's no big deal, I can live with it."

He gave me a warm smile. "You and Lee are going to spend the night in the barn. There are already sleeping bags in there. Try not to make a ruckus though. There's another family of three sleeping up in there, just lettin' ya know. You have a good nights rest now, dear."

* * *

Lee laid his head to rest on the sleeping bag. Laying down on my own sleeping bag, I turned my body around so that it faced his. I pinched my nose, disgusted by the atrocious smell in the barn.

"It smells like shit," I bluntly commented.

His head immediately perked up, smirking at me. "Clementine, I hope you don't mind me asking you this," he began, trying to hold back his laughter, "But where did you learn all these curse words?"

"Why would you ask?"

"Oh well, I dunno," He began, sarcasm evident in his voice, "Maybe because when I first met you, you called me an asshole?"

"Ohh... I remember! I threw a hammer on your head-"

"Okay, okay! I know what happened," He interrupted, his cheeks flushed into a deep shade of maroon.

"Anyways, I learned them from parents, friends, teachers-"

"Teachers?"

"Yeah, teachers," I chuckled. "I had this teacher once, before everything went to hell. Her name was Ms. Moore, she was my math teacher. She was one of the types of teachers who didn't care about her students. Someone could be smoking pot in the classroom, her response would just be 'eh.' She would just flatly cuss out something random if something didn't go her way. She was also very lazy, pretending to be busy with something so that she could ignore her students."

"Sounds like she was a terrible teacher," he admitted.

"She was!" I exclaimed emphatically, forgetting that there were other people sleeping in the barn.

"Shhh Clementine!" Lee whispered , placing a finger over his lips. "I don't want you waking up those people up there."

"I'm sorry Lee," I murmured.

"It's alright, Clem. How about we speak in the morning? Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, it does," I replied, pressing my eyelids together, trying to force myself to fall asleep after the grizzly events of today.


	7. Chapter 7: Heart to Heart With Katjaa

"Hey, get up," a voice rang through the air, with a deep southern accent in it.

I was still laying down on the sleeping bag, half-awake and half-asleep. I heard Lee deeply yawn, rising off of his sleeping bag.

"What about the girl?" The man asks, "You gonna wake her up?"

"Yeah, I will," Lee assured, kneeling down right next to my sleeping form.

I felt the touch of his rough hands nudge me, softly shaking me awake.

"Hey, Clem," Lee whispered, his warm breath tickling my ear. "Wake up."

I softly fluttered my eyes open, clumsily lifting my drowsy body off the sleeping bag. I let out a soft yawn, covering it with both of my hands. Remembering the place that I had slept at, I inched my hands up to cover my nose.

"Lee, do I smell like shit?" I whispered, widening my eyes in awe.

"Come on, don't say that. You smell just fine," He reassured, pulling me up to stand.

"I'm also a bit itchy."

"Well, you just slept in a barn, little lady, lucky you don't have spiders in your hair!" The man with the southern accent teased. I frowned, crossing my arms, shaking my head at the terrible joke. "But I bet your daddy, scared them all away, huh?"

"I'm not her dad," Lee jumped in. "My name's Lee."

"I'm Kenny," The southern man introduced.

"Dad!" This little kid popped out from nowhere, leaning against the entrance of the barn. "We're gonna build a fence! There's a tractor and everything!" He ran off to the opposite direction. His first impression was, to me, very annoying. But he was a little kid, maybe eight or nine. I was once was, too. I shouldn't be really judgmental on him.

"We better get going, or we won't hear the end of it," Kenny chortled, leading us both out of the barn.

Lee squeezed my hand, walking me out of the barn with him, following Kenny.

"That's my boy, Ken Junior, we call him Duck though," he mentioned, giving us a slight smile.

"Duck?" Lee asked, as if he couldn't believe what he has just heard.

"Yea. Nothing bothers him. Like water off a duck's back, y'know."

"That's a valuable trait lately," Lee commented.

"No kidding. But frankly, I think it's because he's dumb as a bag of hammers," Kenny flatly admitted.

"DAAAAD!" Duck called out.

"But, he makes up for it with enthusiasm," Kenny added, leading us to the front of the white house. "The word is that you were on your way to Macon," Kenny turned his body to face Lee's.

"My family's from there," Lee added.

"Well Macon's on the way and, personally, I'd appreciate the company of a guy who can knock a couple of heads together if he has to," Kenny confessed.

"I'll see what the girl would like," Lee replied, looking down at me.

"Ah, gotta consult the missus, I understand," he said, almost in a jokingly way. He turned his attention over to Duck and a blonde-haired woman sitting on a stack of hay. "Honey, Duck, this is Lee and uh, what's the girl's name?" He asked, directed to Lee.

"Clementine," I introduced myself, before Lee had the chance to say anything. I really didn't appreciate how Kenny kept treating me like a six-year-old.

"Clementine," Kenny said, concluding his previous sentence.

"That is a very pretty name," the blonde-haired woman complimented.

"Well, we should get to work," Shawn noted, popping out from nowhere. "We've all seen what those things can do out there so the faster we get this fence up, the better."

"I want to build a fence!" Duck chirped.

"Yeah? Well I need a good foreman. You can sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break," Shawn joked playfully.

"On the tractor? Cool!"

"Duck and I will hop to it," Shawn informed us, leading Duck into the backyard.

Once they left to the backyard, Lee crouched to my height, facing me. "Going down to Macon sound good to you?" He asks.

"I honestly don't know," I divulged, feeling sick on the inside on what I was going to tell him. "The day before all of this commotion happened, I was watching the news. I think I was watching the Cherry Blossom Festival taking place in Macon. This woman got eaten alive by one of those, walkers, in front of the camera. But… I'm willing to go if it's safe there, now."

"Good," he expressed, standing up to his full height. "It's a plan then."

"I can keep an eye on your _little _girl up here on the porch," Kenny's wife suggested, "We can visit."

God, I hated those two words put together, especially if they were referenced to me_. Little girl_, how could I look so little to those two people? Words like that made me feel degraded, unimportant, like I'm not capable to do anything myself, needing an adult to help me.

I sighed and took a seat next to her on the stack of hay as Lee and Kenny walked away. She smelled like my grandmother, I noticed. And she looked just as heavy as a refrigerator.

"Hi, how are you?" She greeted, in some kind of European accent. "My name's Katjaa," she introduced. "How have you been doing in the last couple of days when everything went crazy? I mean, are you okay? I know that living in this new world can traumatize kids, if they were to grow up in it."

"I'm good," I replied to her first question. But for her second one, 'How have you been doing in the last couple of days when everything went crazy?' I've wanted to abstain from answering that, from so much loss occurring for the past, I dunno, three days? "Do you mind if I don't answer your second question?" I asked her, a hint of annoyance in my voice.

"Oh I'm sorry; I shouldn't have asked. I really didn't mean to be rude," she sighed. "It's just that, I've seen so much death occur during these days. My family and I got back from visiting my sister in Tennessee a few days ago, only to find corpses eating people alive along the way as we drove. It just lightens my heart finally seeing people like you and Lee, _alive_ people, the ones who haven't turned into one of those _things," _she stated, distress evident throughout her speech.

I really didn't know what else to say to this woman. It made me sorrowful to see other people in pain or agony. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that," I tell her in an attempt to comfort her.

"Living in a world almost desolated of people," she began, tearing up, "It makes me wonder; what is the point of living? If all we have to do is worry about survival, and about those things out there. What's the point of life if you can no longer enjoy what you've had before all this started? I don't think I could ever get used to living in a world like this."

She started sobbing, placing the palms of her hands over her face. I awkwardly reach in to give her a hug, considering this was a woman who I just met.

She briefly stops weeping, wiping the excess tears off her cheeks with her arms. "Thank you, I appreciate your concern," she forced a slight smile, referring to the hug I gave her. "If you don't mind now, I'm going to go get myself cleaned up in the bathroom," she said, lifting herself off the stack of hay and walking into the small, white house.

A lot of the stuff she mentioned earlier made me wonder as well. Heck, I didn't even know how long _I _would last living in a new world like this. I mean, I had a gun, for protection. I really hadn't had the slightest clue how to properly use it. I mean, my dad only let me touch it once. Just _once._ And pulling the trigger made my index finger sore, becoming numb soon after.

"AHHHH!" I hear Shawn screech, along with the tractor running louder than usual. I exit my thoughts, rushing over to the backyard to see what's going on.

There he was. Shawn's legs were trapped under the weight of the tractor Duck was sitting on. Walkers were trying to claw their way through the fortifications. Shawn clutched onto the grass, trying to release himself from the tractor's weight. Duck peeked his head over to look a trapped Shawn, unaware of what he has done. A walker's hands clutch onto the fabric on Duck's shirt. He called out, pleading for help.

I hear the grass getting stomped on nearby, noticing Lee had ran over to Shawn's side, trying to push the weight of the tractor off of his legs.

"Get it off of me!" Shawn cried, petrified that the walkers behind the undone fence might be getting to him. "Fuck! They're coming, man, they're coming!"

Kenny makes an appearance out of nowhere, rushing over to his son, scooping him up into his arms and stepping away from the tractor.

"KENNY! HELP LEE!" Shawn begged. Kenny just looked back at him in horror. Disregarding on what he had just said, Kenny ran off with his son away from the tractor and the walkers, over to stand by Katjaa. "KENNY!"

I wanted to help Shawn out, alongside by Lee. He and his friend Chet rescued us from the walkers coming in on us. At least, maybe I could make it up to him by trying to save his life. And maybe this can prove to the others that I'm not a little girl.

As Lee tried to pull Shawn out by his arms, I pulled my piece out from the back of my pants, aiming it at one of the walker heads. I squeezed the trigger, the gunshot noise rang through the air, hearing Katjaa scream at the sudden noise. Luckily, I hit its head, causing it to tremble to the ground. I aimed my gun at the other walker trying to break the fence down. I pulled the trigger, I aimed for its head. But because of my poor aiming skills, the bullet tore through its neck, wounding it, but not killing it. I pulled the trigger again, trying to kill it, but my gun only made a _click _noise. I pulled it again, another _click _noise. _I was out, and I had no clue how to reload it._

"AHH AHHH!" Shawn shrieked in anguish. But before I knew it, the rest of the walkers broke the fence down, causing Lee to jump back feet away from Shawn. One took a bite out of his thigh and the other took a bite out of his neck, blood soaking into his clothing.

I covered my hand with my mouth, turning away to throw up, I noticed a horrified Hershel approaching, his shotgun in his hands. He shoots the two walkers eating his son. Another one approached the fence. He blew its head up as well with his shotgun. He tossed his shotgun aside, rushing over to his wounded son, kneeling over him.

"I'm ok pop… I'm ok…" Shawn croaked, barely getting the words out.

"I can fix you, don't worry, we'll stitch you up," Hershel assured, running a hand through his son's hair.

"It almost… it almost got me man. Lee and the girl tried to save me," Shawn uttered weakly. Shawn and Hershel both glanced at us.

"I know, son," Hershel acknowledged.

"I…." that was Shawn's final word, before he took a deep breath and died shortly after.

Hershel gazed at his son in shock, not believing that his son had just died right before in his own eyes. He took a breath and briefly cried over his son, smoothing his son's hair with his hand.

He stood up on his knees, his eyes widening. "Get out," he muttered coldly. He stood up all the way onto his legs. He shot his eyes at all of us, rage filling his facial expression. "**Get the FUCK out of here**!" He yelled, his voice all crackly.

"I'm sorry," Kenny apologized, almost without any emotion.

"SORRY? Your son is alive, you don't get to be sorry!" Hershel scolded. "You and the girl tried to help him," he pointed his eyes over at me and Lee. "But this piece of SHIT here let him die," he chastised, pointing his finger over at Kenny.

I stayed quiet for the whole time, and so did Lee. I didn't want to say anything after the man had just lost his son.

"You both don't have to say anything. At least you two _tried." _He expressed as calmly as he could. "Please, just go. Get out, and NEVER come back," He spat harshly at the end of his sentence.

Kenny, Katjaa, Lee, Duck, and I all gave each other awkward glances for a while. For the time being, it was silent, and all you could hear was the wind passing by the leaves on the trees, making a short ruffling noise.

"You got that ride to Macon if you want it," Kenny offered flatly, breaking the silence.


	8. Chapter 8: The Jackass at the Drugstore

**I wanted to inform you all (To those who are reading this) that I'll be going at a sleep away camp on Friday, lasting for three days. I won't have access to a laptop, and unfortunately I won't be writing chapters during those three days. But as soon as I get back, I'll try to have another one up ASAP. Hope you all don't mind.**

* * *

The pickup truck came to a sudden halt, as if the engine had stopped working or something. I knew that Kenny didn't intentionally mean to stop the truck. I kept hearing his foot slam against the gas pedal, trying to make the truck start moving again. But it didn't.

Lee had accepted the offer of the drive to Macon from Kenny, after Hershel had kicked us all out of the farm. I kept thinking back, to those few moments, before Shawn died. I thought that I would've been able to save him alongside Lee; but I couldn't. All because I didn't know how to reload a stupid gun. I could've just shot the walkers approaching a trapped Shawn, and everything could have just ended smoothly. But it didn't. In the end, a man grieves over the loss of his son.

"Well, this is as far as we're going," Kenny announced, obviously tired of slamming his foot against the gas pedal.

"Then it's far enough," Lee commented, exiting the passenger's side of the pickup.

All of us eventually gather up together outside of the pickup. We all simultaneously walked up the street, in attempts that we could find something to repair the pickup and get back on the road ASAP. We all stop at the end of the street, our eyes searching the deserted streets for something useful. Lee had his eyes glued onto the drugstore. His eyes had softened, looking as if he were about to cry.

"Look!" Duck pointed out suddenly. His finger pointed out to someone, or _something _in the distance. It looked like he were to be kneeling, working on the hood of a car, but we didn't get quite a good look on his face.

"Hey there!" Kenny called out, waving his arms up in the air. "You friendly? Truck's run out of gas."

The figure in the distance turned his head over to look at us, growling. It was definitely not a person, to be making that kind of noise. We all got a clear look on its face. _It was a walker._

"FUCK!" Kenny exclaimed in shock, his mouth gaping open.

More and more of them eventually revealed themselves from their hiding places, surrounding us. At the time, it seemed like there was no escape. They kept inching closer, and closer on us.

"We're trapped!" Katjaa panicked.

"WAAH!" Duck yelled, as a walker came upon him.

The walker kneeled down, lurching in closer on Duck. Duck was sprawled out onto the floor, his body turned away from the walker. His body frantically squirmed away from the walker by a few inches. He kept his arms in front of his face, trying to block the walker from biting into him.

Suddenly, a loud gunshot rang through the air, piercing a bullet through the walker's skull. Its blood sprinkled all over Duck's face and clothing, quickly collapsing onto the ground. Duck's mouth hung open as he got up and saw the bloody mess of the walker. He ran over to his parents, his mother and father squeezing him into a quick hug.

We were all so focused on the walker attacking Duck that we didn't realize this woman exit the drugstore, shooting the walkers surrounding in on us with her pistol. There was also this other guy that came out, his body shaking as he stood over by the gate of the drugstore.

"RUN!" He called out, gesturing his hand over to the drugstore.

Without hesitation, we all immediately did as he said, running inside the open door of the drugstore. The woman backed away towards the drugstore, continuing to shoot some of the remaining walkers surrounding us, until she finally ran inside through the open door of the drugstore. The other guy, _however, _was the last to come in, as he hastily attached a lock onto the gate. Walkers were violently clawing at the gate, sticking their arms through it at their desperate need of human flesh.

Katjaa took her son over to the refreshments stand of the store to get her son cleaned up from the walker blood, using the baby wipes she had found tossed aside in the drugstore. The drugstore was definitely a wreck. Display shelves were picked clean and there were puddles of dark blood, just lying there onto floor. Half the lights in the drugstore weren't working. Standing by the entrance of the store, I saw two very pissed-off looking people, who glowered at us the second we stepped foot into the drug store. One of them was a woman, who had long, brown hair, wearing a black tank top. The other was a guy about six-foot-eight, old, and had his stomach sticking out slightly. As weird as this may sound, my eyes never left the sight of his nose. It reminded me of Grumpy's nose; the guy from the seven dwarfs. It was big and crooked, and it stuck out.

"We can't take risks like this!" The tank top woman remarked, arching her brows in anger.

"And we can't just let people die, either!" The woman with the pistol blurted back out in defense. _I recognize that voice, _I thought. I just didn't know where I recognized it from.

I stood over by the hastily fortified window of the drugstore, keeping my distance away from the confrontation.

"When I _say _'that door stays shut no matter what,' I fucking mean it!" The tank top woman jeered, her voice getting scratchy at the end of her sentence. "We don't know who these people are; they could be dangerous!"

Lee crossed him arms, glaring at the woman for making such an inaccurate accusation.

"Worse; they could've led them right to us!" Nose man piped in.

"Where the hell is your humanity?!" Pistol woman exclaimed, jolting her head over to look at Nose man. "They would've just died out there!"

"Then we let 'em!"

"We're not dangerous; we're just regular folks," Lee jumped in, trying to calm the tension down.

"What's dangerous is a bunch of people running outside and drawing their attention to us," tank top woman snarled.

"Lee's right. We're just regular folks, but WE actually like helping people," Kenny snapped, agreeing with Lee.

"You'll have to excuse her," Pistol woman said, placing a hand on her hip.

"The hell HE, or ANYONE will," Tank top woman growled, "This is about survival; do you guys not see what's happening?"

"They've got kids, Lilly," The man who added the lock onto the gate, pointed out.

"Those things outside don't care," the woman, now known as Lilly, remarked coldly.

"Then maybe you should go join 'em then!" Kenny spat, directing his attention towards Lilly, "Maybe you'll have something in common!"

"Goddammit, Lilly," Nose Man began in frustration, "You have to control these people!"

"Carley and Glenn just ran out there!" Lilly chastised, pointing at Pistol Woman and Gate Guy.

I did recognize her from somewhere! The last time I saw Carley was back at my house, watching the news, just before the TV screen went black. I could've sworn that she didn't make it out of the Cherry Blossom Festival alive, considering that I saw walkers surrounding her and her news team from every corner.

"I don't give a flying fuck!" Nose Man berated, "We're in a warzone."

"She's not wrong; they took a risk," Lee said, concurring with Lilly.

"Yes we did," Lilly replied, acknowledging his words.

"And we appreciate it. Now let's settle down."

"Ho-ly shit," Nose Man gasped, widening his eyes at a blood covered Duck. "Son of a bitch, one of them was bitten!"

"He wasn't bitten," Lee took in defense for Duck.

"Hell he wasn't!" Nose Man ridiculed. "We have to end this now," he announced, storming over to Duck.

"Over my dead body," Kenny breathed out harshly, standing in between Nose Man and his son.

"We'll dig one hole."

"No, I'm cleaning him up, there's no bite, he's fine," Katjaa said nervously, trying her best to convince Nose Man.

Everyone, including me, all gathered up around the tension.

"Don't you fucking people get it?!" Nose man exclaimed, "We've already seen this happen! We let someone with a bite stay and we all end up bitten!"

"Shut. Up!" Kenny spat.

"We gotta throw him out. Or, smash his head in."

"Kenny! Stop him!" Katjaa squealed.

"Lee, what do we do about this guy?" Kenny asked, and from the sounds of it, he was hoping that Lee would side with him.

"Dad – It's-It's just a boy-"Lilly started, cut off by Nose Man.

"Lilly, I'll handle this," he assured her.

"Your heart, _dad, _you need to calm down," she warned.

"It's either him or your son – I say it's him!" Lee declared, glowering at Nose Man.

"Goddamn right," Kenny agreed, "Out on his ass with those _things!"_

"Everyone chill the fuck out!" Carley heckled, but it made no difference whatsoever, the tension only increasing.

"Nobody is doing anything!" Lilly muttered.

"Shut up Lilly!" Nose Man blurted. "And you," he turned his body around to face Carley's. "Shut the fuck up. They will find us, and then they will get in here, and none of this will fucking matter. But right now, we're about to be trapped in here with one of those THINGS."

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Kenny interrogated.

"He's bitten! That's how you turn!"

"He's not bitten," Katjaa called back in defense, continuing to wipe the walker blood off of Duck's face, "Lee stop this – it's upsetting him!"

"Oh, I'm "Upsetting him?" Nose Man jeered, his voice getting all shaky, "Upsetting is getting eaten alive!"

"It's Larry, right?" Lee piped in, directing his attention towards Nose Man, "Man, this is his son."

"Look around you, dumbass. I got a daughter in here, you got a daughter in here. Get your head out of your ass, _boy._" I instantly grimaced at the racist comment Larry had just made.

"We've all got people in here and we can figure this out without killing anybody," Lee tried to reason, "There's another way."

"Yeah. With a shovel," Larry said, his eyes beaming into Kenny's eyes.

If they were to include the word, 'dickhead,' into the dictionary, Larry would perfectly fit under it.

I paced over towards Lee, standing next to him right by another hastily fortified window, near the refreshments parlor. For some reason, I felt safer next to him when tension arose. I nudged him in the shoulder, trying to grab his attention. He turned his head over to look down at me, the scariest expression I had ever seen on his face. "What is it?" He snarled.

"Why is that guy over there acting like a scumbag?" I bluntly asked in a whisper, my head gesturing over at Larry. I had no idea why I just asked him that. But to my surprise, it wasn't a quiet whisper, as everyone in the drugstore now temporarily disregarding the situation over Duck, turned their attention towards me, especially Larry's. Lee now looked frightened as hell.

He came in closer on me, his facial expression reading: I-will-rip-your-tongue-out.

"You little bitch," he bit out harshly, "Do you know that it is very disrespectful to use that kind of language to an adult? Haven't your parents ever taught you that?"

"Don't you fucking talk to her like that!" Lee hollered.

"You should be telling _her _that; not me, you stupid shit," Larry bellowed, scrunching his nose at Lee.

Instantly, I felt like this guy was patronizing me. I had no intent to show him any sort of kindness. At all. "Yeah, they did," I answered back, crossing my arms.

"Well, then they obviously didn't do a very good job at it, then," he scoffed, slightly smirking. "I don't give a shit whether you're a kid or not; won't stop me from cursing you out."

That's it. My patience with this guy was quickly plummeting. He was an idiot to say that my parents hadn't taught me well. Cold tears that slowly filled my eyes quickly evaporated as my face heated up, feeling my anger build inside of me. They've always did their best for me. And now, my parents, most likely dead, were being taunted in their grave by this douche-bag who had no idea how great they actually were. To me, they did an excellent job at raising me, up until now. Man, fuck this guy.

My mouth hung open, quickly thinking of a comeback. But before I could say or do anything, Kenny stood in between the two of us, his body completely blocking my view of Larry.

"Listen, you old fuck," Kenny barked, jabbing his finger into Larry's chest. "I dunno what the fuck you have against kids; but I know you wouldn't had done a better job raising Clementine, here." He points finger over towards Lilly. "I mean, look at your daughter. Raised her to become a fuckin' lunatic, just like you."

Larry looked like as if he were about to explode. His chest kept puffing in and out uneasily, his mouth gaping open catching in his own breaths of air. And as for Lilly, she placed both of her hands on her hips, scowling at Kenny for his snide remark.

"You know what? I'll deal with _you _later," Larry snapped, pointing his middle finger at me. I crossed my arms, squinting my eyes at him in response, keeping an 'I don't care' image. "I'm not the bad guy here," his voice softens up, "I'm just looking out for my daughter."

"No, you're just the guy arguing for killing a kid!" Kenny contradicted.

"He's covered in muck! She'll find the bite. WATCH."

"She WON'T!" Kenny countered, gaping his eyes wide open.

"And _if_ she does?" Larry asked, his whole face scrunching up. "The first thing he'll do is sink his teeth into his mom's face. Then, when she's dead, he'll probably pounce on your little bitch you got right there," Larry glared at me and Lee, "Not that I care what happens to her, unless she puts us all at danger."

"He's a little boy! I think we can handle him," Lee stated, talking to Larry as if he were an idiot.

"A little boy? He'll be an uncontrollable man eater."

"It's not gonna happen!" Kenny exclaimed, almost looking like he had sprinkled his spit over Larry's face.

"It is – and we're tossing him out now!"

"No! You don't touch that boy! You don't touch anybody in here! I've got a little girl I'm trying to protect here, too. You wanna get violent, you old fuck? Then come on! But you better have a plan to kill me though, because it's _me, _before anyone else in here!" Lee said, loud and strong, defending Duck from getting thrown of the drugstore.

Larry's expression turned shocked, and then into rage, as if he wanted to rip Lee's throat out for standing in his way.

Suddenly, as I leaned my head against the window, I felt something tangle into my hair. My head felt like it were being pulled away from the window. I also felt short, grunting noises exhale onto me. No… It couldn't be.

I wasn't losing my mind. Another object, (a hand?) broke against the flimsy boards fortifying the window, clutching onto my shoulder, trying to pull me out of the window, into the street. If things couldn't get worse, a head slammed against the wooden boards, reaching down to take a bite out of my skull. It grunted loudly, dripping blood from its mouth onto my cheeks. I tried pulling my head away from its grip, but it was no use. My tangled hair increased the pain as I tried to get out of its grip.

"AHH! Help!" I screamed, catching everyone's attention. My feet seemed slightly elevated from the floor, inching up higher and higher from the ground. _Damn it, it's dragging me out!_

"JESUS!" Larry exclaimed, widening his eyes at the walker.

Lee had a petrified expression take over his face, but that didn't stop him from running over by my side, tilting my head away from the walker's head, while trying to pull my body away from its grip.

"Fuck," Lee muttered, struggling to get the walker's hand out of my hair. I was stuck, and the last thing I wanted was the walker to take a bite out of my face. And best of all, everyone was staring at me getting attacked by the walker, doing nothing whatsoever to help.

This guy, wearing a green t-shirt along with some socks and sandals, soon proved me wrong. Coming out from nowhere, rushing by my side, he tried to pry me off the walker's grip. But still, even with two men trying to pry me off the walker, it was no use.

This loud gunshot rang through the air. Barely missing my head, it blasted through the walker's skull. Its blood exploded onto my hair and baseball cap, causing me to pout and cringe at the horrible smell. The walker's grip from earlier had loosened up, causing me to freely back away from the window. I glanced up at Lee, only to find him grimacing at me. As well as Socks and Sandals guy, he only held his hand over by his nose, cupping it.

I caught the eye of the person holding the pistol: Carley. She lowered it, looking at the three of us in fear.

"You guys okay?" She asked nervously.

My brows arched in anger. "Does it look like I'm okay?" I asked, my voice filled with rage, "Once again, today I smell like something had just died on me."

But before she had the chance to reply back, we all heard this sudden noise coming from the windows and doors, as if something were to be pushing or clawing at it. We all heard the lose wooden boards shake as they were being clawed at from the outside. Just about everyone stood behind a piece of furniture, peeking their heads out. I stood behind Lee, backing away as far as possible from the windows.

"Everyone get down!" Lilly rasped, silently.

Larry poked his head out from the shelf he was hiding behind. "They're gonna get in!"

"Shut up!" Kenny quietly hissed.

Shortly after, we heard gunshots being heard from the outside, as if they were to be coming from multiple sub-machine guns.

"Is that the military?" Lee asked, the question not being directed towards any one.

"I don't know," Lilly replied.

Larry stood up from his hiding position, pointing his finger towards Carley. "We almost died because of this _bitch_ and her itchy trigger finger! That was stupid! That was - Agghh!" He unexpectedly trembled to the ground, clutching onto his chest.

"Dad!" Lilly shrieked, rushing by her father's side, checking his pulse.

The rest of us gathered around Larry and Lilly, all of us staring at him in fear in shock, as if he had just died.

"Well, what's wrong with him?" Lee asked, his voice quivering.

"It's his heart," Lilly stated.

"My pills..." Larry wheezed.

"Um uh, nitroglycerin pills?" Katjaa questioned, seeming like she had medical experience.

"Yes, that's it. We're out. We've been trying to get into the pharmacy ever since we've got in," Lilly admitted, gesturing her arm over at the locked pharmacy counter. "Please try to get in there. My dad needs these."

Lee hesitated for a second, thinking of a response to give to this woman. "We'll do it, somehow," he assured her.

"Thank you so much," Lilly blessed genuinely.

Excuse me? I wanted to smack Lee in the face for agreeing to helping this guy out. After he dissed my parents, called me a bitch, stuck the finger up at me, and almost tried to kill Duck, this guy, by no means, deserved any help. But hey, with his heart condition, he'll be less likely to nag and bitch about anything he could think of, temporarily. But then again, helping out Lilly's father might get Lee into her good side.

"Everyone else should get comfy and look for anything useful," Kenny insisted, almost acting like he was in charge of everyone in the drugstore. "We could be in here a while.

"I'm starting to think this drugstore isn't a permanent solution," Glenn added.

"You're right. This ain't exactly Fort Knox," Kenny agreed.

"What do you suggest?" Lee questioned Glenn.

"We need as much gas as possible so we can all get out of downtown Macon. Fast." Glenn suggested. "There's a motel not too far from here, out towards the end of Peachtree. I'll work my way towards it and then loop back, siphoning what I can."

"Damn, that'd be great," Lee smiled.

"It has to be done, plus, I'm quick - and I know my way around from Macon," Glenn informed.

"if you're gonna do that, here's a walkie-talkie if you get in a tight spot," Lee said, pulling the walkie from his belt, handing it over to Glenn, "Hopefully, you wont need it."

"Cool."

"Clementine's got the other one. Check in with her and get back here as soon as you can."

"And you, what's your name?" Kenny asked, pointing his attention over towards Lilly and her father.

"It's Lilly. My dad's Larry," She introduced.

"Keep a good eye on him. These boys will work on getting you your medicine," Kenny assured. "And you," he points to the man who wore the green t-shirt and his socks with sandals, "You're our lookout."

"It's Doug, and you got it," He told Kenny.

"And I'm Carley," Carley introduced.

"Okay, Carley. You'll shift in with Doug when he needs it," He apprised. "For now, get some rest - you're a good shot and I'd like to keep it that way."

"You got it, _boss," _Carley settled, instantly receiving a death-glare from Lilly.

"Now get him those pills," Kenny ordered, directed to both Lee and Glenn.


	9. Chapter 9: Jiggly Arms

**A/N:**

**Hi all.**

**So sorry it took me long to update. For me, it takes like forever to write something that's 3k+ in words.**

**I am so fucked after playing episode 5 of Season 2. Emotional breakdowns each second someone died. And *SPOILER* Clem's flashback of Lee on the RV. *END OF SPOILER* The feels…. The damn feels.**

**If you guys didn't read chapter 8, I won't be available at the time from Friday-Sunday to update.**

**Also, I start school on September 4****th****, so updates may be sporadic, depending on the load of homework I get on that day.**

**Just wanted to let all of you reading know.**

**Thank you all for your support on the story.**

* * *

As Glenn left to get gas, I sat on a box, by the register counter. I just fiddled with my walkie for a few minutes, waiting for a response from Glenn. That was pretty much all I could do, at the time. I had a phone with me, still, but there was really no use for it. It was uncharged, and I had no charger for it.

I was still very concerned on how to reload a gun. Still, I was distraught over the situation with Shawn, and how I could have saved him from getting eaten. It happened in the morning, and it still seemed like it happened all in slow motion. During the ride to Macon, I still remember Duck babbling to his mother about the incident at the farm, asking whether Shawn was okay, and why Hershel kicked us all off the farm. He was so naïve, but I don't think that he can help it, being so young.

Exiting out of my own thoughts, I see Lee walking over to me after just finishing his conversation with Lilly. He kneels down to my height, grinning.

"How you doing, Clementine?" He asks, his smile gradually fading.

"I'm alright Lee. I'm just a little hungry," I answered, placing my hand over my growling belly.

"Oh, so would this be fine?" He inquired, taking an energy bar out of his pocket, "I've been looking for some stuff to eat around here."

My eyes quickly examined the energy bar that he held in his hand. To be honest, I don't think I've ever ate one before, considering that they all look alike to granola bars and stuff. But, I was getting hungry. So, how bad could it be?

"Sure," I smiled, taking the energy bar from his hand. "Thank you."

"Of course, Clem," He replied cheerfully, standing up from his kneeling position.

I tore the packaging of the energy bar open while Lee walked over to the office door of the drugstore. I took a nibble of the energy bar, devouring it after realizing that it wasn't that bad. I tossed the little wrapper besides me, after finding out that there were no garbage's nearby. Glancing back up to the office door, I now noticed that Lee was now not in sight, after the door had made such a loud closing noise.

This crazy idea popped into my mind. _Why not follow him inside? _I mentally questioned myself. _It would be better doing something than nothing. I mean, who wants to sit down on a box all day, just to wait for some guy to contact me on a walkie?_

Everyone seemed to be busy doing their own thing. Lilly was monitoring her dad, Kenny and Katjaa were conversing with each other, Doug was on watch, and Carley was fumbling with a radio. They wouldn't have seem to notice me walk into the office, or just to even notice I was gone.

I casually walked over to the office door with the walkie clipped onto my belt, acting as if no one were to be watching me. I opened the door to the office, quickly slipping myself inside, closing the door behind me.

The first thing a saw was Lee, just standing there, frozen as a statue, unaware I had just entered the wrecked office. I raised his hand up to cover his forehead, his head shaking slightly.

"I can't…" He began, hearing him sob in between the words," I can't think about them in here!" He whimpered, his eyes glued on the bloodied mattress on the floor.

"Think about who?" I asked him softly.

He gasped, jolting his body around to face me. He loosened up, sighing in relief as he looked at me.

"Clem…. What are you doing here?" He asks, his voice quivering at each word.

"I thought I'd come in here and join you," I admit. "I didn't want to sit there in the drugstore doing nothing."

His eyes ogled over to the pharmacy door of the office, blocked off by certain objects. "Well, I could use some help getting that door over there clear," He divulged, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, then let's get to it!" I persisted, heading over to the blocked pharmacy door, Lee following me.

There were two objects blocking the pharmacy door, a panel and a desk. I grabbed onto the panel, struggling to pull it off of the desk it was leaning on. It was heavier than it looked. It seemed to be lighter by seconds, until I realized Lee's hands taking a hold of the panel, leaning it against of the wall by the door, causing something trapped in between the panel and the desk to drop onto the floor, grabbing both me and Lee's attention. It looked like a very long stick, but I didn't know the exact name of it.

He bent over to grab the object, gazing down at the object in happiness.

"What's that you're holding there?" I ask, slightly confused as to why he kept smiling down at it.

"This was my dad's cane," He expressed lively, standing up to look at me, his hand still gripping onto the cane.

To be honest, I have never seen a cane that looked like that. I'm more familiar to the ones that look like candy canes.

"So… did he have a problem walking?"

"Nah, he was fine. He actually used that cane to whoop shoplifters. This cane has protected this place better than any guard dog could," He reminisced, tossing the cane aside, the wall supporting it to stand.

"What, um, happened to him," I stammered, immediately regretting asking him.

His smile vanished, his face saddening. He eyes ogled towards the blood-stained mattress leaning against the wall, and then his eyes shot up staring back at mine.

"The same thing that happens to everyone, Clem," He sighed. "I was talking to Lilly; asked her if there was anyone at the drugstore before her and her father arrived." He placed the palm of his hand onto his cheek, wiping off the stream of tears. "They pulled some dead bodies out from the office. An elderly couple. So -"

"Lee," I interrupted, not wanting to put him under anymore emotional pain, "You don't have to talk any further if you don't want to. I understand. A lot of us have already lost people."

He deeply sighed, letting out a forced smile towards me, just to let it quickly fade a few seconds later. I glanced back over to the blocked pharmacy door, then back to him.

"We should get that door over there clear, huh?" I suggested, quickly changing the subject.

"Yeah, we should," He nods, both of us walking over towards the large, wooden desk. We both gripped onto the bottom of the desk tightly. "Make sure you don't get your fingers stuck in between the drawers," He advised.

We both grunted at the start, struggling to get the desk moving. Lee seemed to manage just fine. However, my skinny arms, almost resembling bones, jiggled at the process of moving the desk. We pulled it away from the pharmacy door by a couple of feet. We both paused for a second, giving me time to wipe the tiny droplets of sweat off my forehead with my sweater sleeve, panting. I felt like Lee's eyes were on top of me the whole time.

"You're tired already?" He chuckled, placing his hands on his hips.

I glared at him, feeling my rage grow inside of me. But the truth of the matter was that I really was weak with my arms, and I hated to admit it. My rage descended, and now my emotional pain built up.

"Not really," I lied through my pants.

"That's alright. We only have to move this desk against the wall. So really, there's not much work left," He assured, placing his hand onto my shoulder.

"Then lets get this over with," I persisted, grabbing onto the bottom of the desk, alongside Lee. We turned the desk around to face the wall, leaving huge scratches onto the office floor. Rather than using my arms, I now used my weight to push the desk against the wall, trying my best to ignore the screeching noises the desk had made against the floor.

The deed was finally done. There was finally a clear path to the pharmacy door. Through the quietness of the office, the only thing that could be heard was my loud panting. I felt like I had overworked myself, my cheeks feeling flushed and hot. I climbed on top of the desk, to sit and rest there for a small moment. I turned my head over to look at Lee, whose face was filled with concern.

"Clem, are you okay?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Lee, believe me, I'm fine," I lied, trying to keep a 'tough' image.

"Are you sure? I mean, I also found a Gatorade -" He said, taking the bottle out of his pocket. I snatched it out of his hands, to his amazement.

I chugged the bottle, leaving maybe two ounces of liquid left. I remove the bottle off of my lips, finding Lee staring at me in astonishment mixed with perplexity.

"Oh.. sorry for snatching the bottle out of your hands," I expressed my regret, "But thank you, Lee," I finished, the corners of my mouth curling up, my arm stretching out to hand the bottle back to him.

"Nah, you can keep it. Looks like you need it more than I do," he said, taking a seat next to me onto the desk.

We both sat there, silence filling the office's atmosphere once more. I swung my legs in and away from the desk, while Lee just pondered. That certain though popped back into my head. _How to reload a gun. _I was thinking that I could ask Lee to teach me. But to be honest, he didn't look like the kind of guy that would be shooting guns and stuff. But maybe it might be worth asking him.

"Lee?" I asked in an attempt to grab his attention. He snapped out of his thoughts, his head turning down to look at me. "Do you know how to reload one of these?" I asked, pulling my gun out from the back of my jeans, handing my gun out to him.

"Hm," He mumbled, examining the pistol. "Do you still have that box of ammo?"

"I think so," I replied, digging my hand into my immense sweater pocket, my hand coming across something hard and rectangular. "I think this is it," I tell him, taking out the box and handing it over to him.

He opens it, revealing small sections of ammo that seemed to be attached together. He scooted away from me on the desk, leaving a small space in between us. He places the gun onto his lap, putting the box in the extra space between us. He took a section of the attached ammo out from the box, also placing it onto his lap.

He raises the gun up with his right hand, and points to the top of the gun. "You see this part of the gun? This is called the slide of the gun," he explained, pulling onto the slide of the gun, causing a little piece from the bottom of the gun to fall out, hitting the floor of the office. "And that," He started, bending over to pick up the little piece, "Is called the magazine of the gun. That's where all the ammo goes," He stated, placing the attached ammo into the magazine. "Also, this is called the clip," He adds, pointing to the attached ammo now inside the magazine. "Then, you just shove this up back inside the gun," He directs, placing the loaded magazine inside the gun. "And now, you're good to go." He smiled, handing me back the gun. "It's good to keep extra magazines with you, loaded of course."

"Thanks Lee," I chimed, placing my handgun onto my lap. "Also, it looks like you have a ton of experience with these things. Maybe you could also teach me how to aim better?"

He slid off the desk, standing up now. He hesitated a moment. "I could teach you the correct posture of shooting a gun, but I can't necessarily let you shoot something in here, for practice. Think about the noise, we don't need any more walkers trying to break through the fortifications, just to get inside."

"Yeah... you're right..." I admit. "But you could still teach me the correct posture and stuff, right?"

"Of course, as long as you don't pull the trigger."

I bounced off of the desk, getting into a standing position. I stood in front of Lee, gently lifting up my relaxed arms beside me, putting them out to extend in front of me, holding onto the gun with my dominant right hand.

"Now, Clem. You want to have your arms extended out right in front of you, relaxed," He explained, moving his hands down to my elbow, loosening them up. "And, when it comes to taking out one of those things out there, you always aim for the head."

"Why the head?" I questioned.

"That seems like one of their weak spots. Remember when you were taking out walkers at Hershel's farm?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, the one walker that you shot in the head just easily died after you shot it in its head."

"Oh yeah! That kind of makes sense," I remembered.

"Well then, I'm glad that you see the point."

"What if it comes to me having to shoot a person?"

Lee sighed, taking his hands off of my arms. "Then shoot anywhere else. But I don't want you to be thinking about it a lot, Clem."

"Oh, okay. Is there anything else I should know?" I asked, dropping both of my arms to my sides.

The look on his face was blank, as if he were pondering or something. "Never be afraid to pull the trigger, Clementine."

Ha, now I can finally shoot Larry's face off, the _correct _way.

I nodded, putting my gun in the back of my pants, brushing off my jeans. "How much longer do we have to be in here?"

"Well, Clem. I need to check if the pharmacy door is open but most likely it's not," He mentioned, heading over to the pharmacy door, turning the knob. "Just as I figured: Locked. I'm just gonna have a look around the office, just to see if I can find the keys or anything that's useful."

"Okay, Lee. Do what you have to do," I chimed, taking a seat on top of the desk.

He was heading over to the dark, wooden desk that stood next to the one I was sitting on. However, he had suddenly stopped, kneeling down to take a look at something, I couldn't really see what it was. He picked it up, as he smiled upon it for a few seconds, until that smile had vanished into a dejected frown. He tore the paper (I think) He was holding in two, and shoved the other half into his pocket.

I heard the door to the drugstore silently close, and to my surprise, I saw Carley walk in, with the most petrified expression on her face. It instantly grew serious, as she quietly approached Lee.

"Find anything?" She asked, startling him. He turned around to face her, dropping the other half of the piece of paper.

"No, nothing," He shrugged, lying to her.

She squinted her eyes at him. "I know who you are," She began, causing his eyes to expand. "You're Lee Everett. You're a professor at Athens who murdered a state senator for sleeping with your wife. This is your parents' store; folks around town knew that the owner's son got himself a life sentence, but I'm a reporter for WABE," She paused, "I paid attention to that trial. Maybe you're a murderer, but I don't really care. Frankly, that's a skill that may come in handy."

I instantly thought back at the moment when the two of us first met, Lee and I. Before that, I remember him leaning against the _police_ car back in the forest, so maybe he may have been going to jail. He never told me that he was a murderer. If he really was, I couldn't believe he was taking care of me right now! He could kill me at anytime, him being a murderer! And what the hell was she talking about, 'murdering is a skill that may come in handy?' The fuck?!

"Hmph," He mumbled, crossing his arms and shaking his head at her.

"Did you tell anyone that you're tied to this place?" She interrogated, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I've been sticking to first names for a reason," He replied, uncrossing his arms.

She scrunched her face up, examining him all over with her eyes. "You seem like an okay guy," She admitted, "And the last thing we need is drama here. You got this little girl to take care of and look, don't make me wrong on this," She said, taking a step closer to him.

"I don't plan to," He replied in a serious tone, taking a step closer to her.

"Good, because if this lasts a couple more days, ad you're a detriment to the group, then we'd have a problem," She told him abruptly.

"I hear you."

"I'll just keep it to myself."

They both just stared at each other for, maybe minutes. He hesitantly looked away from Carley, then he looked back at her face. "Thanks," He concluded, breaking the silence between them.

Just before she was about to head back out, her head turned back to gaze into his eyes, "Don't worry about it," She grinned, finally leaving the office back into he drugstore.

As soon as she left, I got myself off of the desk, approaching Lee. I was more curious to know why he had murdered, because honestly, he didn't look like one of those criminals who killed for a living, he looked like one of those guys you would see everyday.

"Lee?" I asked, testing his mood, keeping my distance from him.

"What is it, Clem?" He asked softly, kneeling to my height.

"That woman mentioned that you killed someone, why did you do it? Should I be afraid of you now?" I stammered, my voice shaking, taking a few steps away from him.

He deeply sighed. "Clem, this is gonna be difficult to explain," He began, scratching the back of his neck. "I did kill, not because I did it for a living, but because... Okay look. I had a wife, before all of this madness had started. I came home to find her with another man -"

"So.. she was a prostitute?" I interrupted, not really knowing the exact meaning of the word.

"No! What I'm trying to say is that when I caught the two together, I was so angry and before I knew it, him and I got into a fight. And accidentally, I had killed him during the fight," He looked down, afraid to see the reaction on my face.

"Oh, so you killed him because he was a dick?"

"Yeah, sort of like that," He admits.

"Ah, okay. But honestly, I don't really think that matters now - killing a guy, I mean, now we all do it to stay alive, whether it be people or walkers," I pointed out.

"We'll see about that, Clem," He sighed, standing up from his sitting position, his body turning over to the drugstore door. "So um, do you wanna head back into the drugstore with me?" He asks.

"Um, I think I'll stay in here a little while longer, looking around for anything useful," I murmured.

"Okay, Clem. I'll be in the drugstore if you need me," Lee assured, stepping out of the office door and closing it on his way out.

But really, I wanted to know what was on the other half of the paper he had dropped earlier.


	10. Chapter 10: Psycho

**A/n:**

**I am finally back from sleep away camp.**

**It was good.**

**My depression from ep5 is coming close to an end.**

**Which is good.**

**Hope you all like this chapter for today.**

* * *

I took a couple more steps, approaching the half-torn piece of paper that Lee had dropped earlier. Getting a closer look at it, however, turned out to be a picture of a man, rather than a plain piece of paper that I once thought I saw earlier. Picking the photo up, examining the man in it carefully, turned out to be someone, who looked familiar.

Lee.

He stood before, which looked like the front of the pharmacy, posing for the camera. I couldn't believe it with my own eyes. He looked, well, kind of different. He looked slightly younger, wearing a long-sleeved, buttoned-up shirt, along with a black tie. Judging by the photo, it looked like it'd been taken before everything went crazy, when the world was normal.

I didn't feel like tossing the photo back onto the cold, blood-stained floor. It felt wrong, somehow. Even though I had just met this man yesterday, he has shown immense amounts of kindness towards me, despite the fact that he was a convicted murderer. I just felt like stuffing this photo into my pocket, not mentioning this to Lee at all. Maybe he had a purpose of leaving this photo behind, maybe he didn't, and I don't want to see the reaction on his face if I were to show him the photo I found tossed onto the ground.

I stuffed the photo into my pocket, keeping my lips sealed about it.

Exiting the office, I hear a sudden _buzz. _Turning my head to where the sound was coming from, it made contact with my walkie talkie. _It may be Glenn._

"Hey there, this is Glenn," The voice spoke out, slightly muffled against the fabric of my jeans. Clipping the walkie off my belt, I held it up close to my face. "I'm kinda in a jam here."

"What do you mean?" I queried, speaking into the walkie.

"You're Clementine, right? So uhm, I'm kind of stuck here, by the motel?"

"Stuck?"

"I saw a chance to get some supplies down by the motel, but a bunch of those things got the jump on me. I'm hiding in the ice machine but they won't leave."

"What's up?" Lee asks, approaching me from the corner of the drugstore.

"Well, uh, Glenn's trapped over by the motor inn," I responded, dropping the walkie talkie down by my side.

"Here, let me have it for a second?" He questioned, gesturing his arm out for the walkie, which I dropped in the palm of his hand. He held the walkie up to his face. "Hey Glenn, we're gonna talk it over and send a group to come and get you, all right?"

"Cool, awesome. I'll sit tight 'till then," Glenn sighed in relief.

"Sounds good," Lee said, turning the walkie talkie off and handing it back over to me.

"What do you think?" Kenny questioned, leaving his family alone for a moment.

"I think Doug's not great around zombies, and you've got your family here. I'll take –"He paused, looking back and forth between me and Carley. He stopped, however, to turn his head down and face me. "I'll take Clementine with me, get Glenn, and get back here as fast as I can."

I grinned at him, happy that I'm coming alongside with him in order to save Glenn. I'm glad I was gonna do something productive, besides sitting in a drugstore and doing nothing. I took my gun out, letting it dangle freely in my right hand.

"Really?" I asked, my face glowing with happiness.

"Sure. After all, you are a "sharpshooter" now," He tells me playfully. "We're also a team, aren't we?"

"If that's what you want to do-" Kenny commented, but was cut off.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Carley interjected, glaring at Lee. "You can't just take a little girl with you! First of all, I am a better shot than she is, and second, for all we know, she could wind up dead! And third, well, I don't really have a third reason, but you see the point." She hissed. "I doubt she even knows how to use one correctly."

"I've seen her use one before; she's fine!" Lee contradicted.

I scowled at her. For me, I felt like I was dealing with Sandra 2.0, but only with an older version. I wasn't gonna take this, her bossiness, at all. I never thought that she would be such a "Nag" type of person at all. She seemed like such a decent person on TV. But I was definitely not gonna let her talk to me like that.

"Carley, you're not my mom. Don't tell me what I can or cannot do," I frowned, placing the gun back into my pants. "Lee asked for my help. Not yours. _My. Help. _So just leave us both alone, okay?"

Her facial expression grew even angrier. She took the second to glare at me, then back at Lee. "Don't come crying back over to me if she dies over there," She retaliated, stomping back to the register counter to fiddle with a radio.

Lee took the moment to exhale in relief. He twirled his head down to look at me, with a grin on his face. "So Clem, now that _that's _done, you ready to head out?"

Before answering, I contemplated at my gun. I was kind of anxious to use it, now that I have learned the proper way to use it. On the other hand, I really didn't feel like using it, because of the "numb" feeling in my right hand. All I could think of was, 'what could go wrong,' in my head. But still, maybe I might be able to still prove my maturity to Glenn and Lee.

"Lee, am I going to have to use this gun at the motel?" I whined.

"That depends, Clem. But most likely, you may not," He replies.

"Okay then," I sighed. "I'm ready."

"Good. Let's go."

* * *

Lee led the way over to the motel, which was good, since I had no idea where anything was in Macon. We loitered around the entrance of the motel, looking for Glenn. We crouched down, behind the small wall that stood outside of the parking lot. Peeking up, there were plenty of walkers in the parking lot, some of them eating flesh of what was left behind to rot.

"Have any idea where Glenn could be?" Lee whispered.

"I think that he mentioned that he was hiding in an ice machine. I'm not so sure though," I reply.

"Well, shit," He muttered in frustration.

"Maybe he might contact us on the walkie," I pointed out, trying to get his hopes up.

But before he could open his mouth to say anything, he was cut off by the loud banging against something, creaking loudly at each attempt.

We both scooted over to the noise, finding the ice machine in front of us. The banging still occurred, causing Lee to develop a frightened expression on his face.

"I think that Glenn is in there," I remarked, the words barely audible.

"You don't know that, Clementine. For all that we know, a walker might be in there. Get out your gun, just in case," He murmured. "It's loaded, right?"

I nod at him, pointing my gun at the ice machine.

The banging still went on, but eventually stopped once the ice machine door busted open, seeing Glenn crouched inside in an uncomfortable position.

"Guys!" Glenn exclaimed with joy, letting himself out of the ice machine. "Oh man, I'm glad you're both here." He jumps over the wall, sectioning off the parking lot of the motel and the street. We all crouched down behind the wall.

"Alright, that wasn't so hard," Lee smiled.

"Lee, can we get out of here now?" I begged, trying my best not to make it sound like a whine. This place gave me the creeps with all the walkers lying around, especially at night time. I immediately regretted coming over here. I should've just let Carley come instead of me.

"Not yet," Glenn said. "There's a survivor trapped up there," He pointed at the motel rooms on the second-story. "So listen. I was up here looking for gas. And then, up there in the corner room, I heard crying coming from the inside."

"Who is it?" Lee asked.

"It's a girl. We talked and she got frightened. I was trying to get in and help her but she started yelling and saying I was bitten," Glenn whispered. "I tried to convince her I wasn't and that's when all these guys came out of the forest. A couple almost got me and I ended up hiding in the ice machine."

"Well, we can't just leave her to die!" I added.

"Damn right we can't," Lee agreed.

The three of us stalked over behind the other wall in the motel lot, with a walker eating out rotten flesh on the other side of the wall.

"Okay, this is the plan," Lee declared, "We don't know how hard it's gonna be to get her out of that room."

"Yeah, it's boarded up," Glenn muttered.

"So we have to kill every one of them in here. _Quietly," _He says in a loud whisper, his eyes pointing towards me and the gun. "Noise attracts these things. Now let's have a look around."

"Um, kid, you sure you're okay with using a gun?" Glenn asks me in a quivering voice.

"Of course I do!" I hissed, "Why else would I be holding one?"

"Jesus, you don't have to throw a hissy fit just because I asked you a question," He muttered.

I rolled my eyes at him. Meanwhile, Lee peeked his head over by the side of the wall, dragging a pillow into our view shortly afterwards.

"And you expect to kill these things... with a pillow?" I asked him sarcastically.

"You'll see what I have in mind for this, Clem," He responds. "Meanwhile, we should all go over there by the brown pickup. I think we all found everything we need here."

Glenn and I followed Lee to the brown, crouching on the way there. We were still in the motel parking lot. We crouched behind the pickup truck, now facing our next target. A walker leaned against the door of the car just across from the pickup. However, it didn't seem like it was capable of walking. It just sat there on the ground, with its legs pointing out in front of it.

Lee stood up, with his knees bent, approaching the window of the pickup.

"Is there anything in there?" Glenn interrogated.

"Yeah, just a screwdriver. I don't see anything I could use to open the window though," Lee sighed, crouching back down.

His eyes turned over to look at the walker leaning against the door of the car. "Clem, have your gun out," He whispered.

"But what about the noise Lee?" I perked up.

"Just follow my lead. Stay right behind me," He ordered, approaching the walker.

Following him, he used the pillow to cover the walkers face.

"Shoot it!"

I place my gun on the surface on the pillow, pulling the trigger, letting out a soft, quiet gunshot. The walkers blood spilled onto the pillow, causing both me and Lee to flinch. But thankfully, the walkers head collapsed onto the ground, unmoving.

"That was sick!" Glenn uttered in complete disgust.

Lee signaled Glenn to follow by gesturing his arms towards us. We all crouched behind the car, letting Lee open the drivers door. He unlocked the gearshift from 'park' to 'drive.' Just as he was about to close the door, his attention was caught by this small, shiny, metal object lying on the driver's seat.

"It's uh, a sparky thing," Lee notes, closing the driver's door.

Glenn carefully examined the object in Lee's hands. "Spark plug... you should hold on to that. Could come in handy."

Just in front of the car, there was a walker furiously slamming its fists against a fortified window, its attention away from us and the car. Lee used this opportunity wisely, as he pushed the car in the walker's direction, crushing it against the motel wall, but not killing it.

"That was awesome!" Glenn compliments.

From there, we all rushed back behind the brown pickup. Lee, holding his newly acquired spark plug, holds it up in the air, about to throw the spark plug at the glass window of the pickup.

"Wait!" Glenn whispered loudly, grabbing Lee's attention and stopping him from his current actions. "Let me see the spark plug."

Lee then hands the spark plug over to Glenn, who, immediately threw it on the ground, crushing it with his foot. "The porcelain inside these things turns car window into tissue paper," Glenn noted, picking up one of the left over remnants of the spark plug, handing it over to Lee.

Lee, having hold of the porcelain fragment in his hand, threw it into the glass window of the pickup, causing most of the glass to shatter. Slipping his arm through the window cautiously, he grabs a hold of a screwdriver on the way out. He held it out to show it to Glenn.

"That could scramble a brain pretty good," Glenn commented.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Lee divulged.

From there on, we all quietly rushed to our original start point of the motel, crouching behind the wall. If front of us now, was still the walker from earlier chomping onto flesh. Farther from it stood an RV.

With caution, Lee sneaked up on the walker devouring its meal. Gripping onto the screwdriver tightly, and before the walker had the chance to turn its head around, Lee stabbed into its head, causing it to plummet onto its own meal. He rushed over by the front of the RV, away from the walkers attention and viewpoint. Once he did so, both Glenn and I followed him.

The three of us stood there crouched in front of the RV. Lee turned his poked his head out to the right, grimacing as soon as I saw his facial expression.

"Shit," He mumbled.

"What, what is it?" I questioned nervously.

"Walker, at the end of the RV," He replied, "I think may have a plan, though. He's one out of the two left on the parking lot."

He tilted his head over in the walker's direction, letting out a loud, brief whistle.

He caught his attention, I can tell. I heard footsteps and groans gradually increasing. Once it got to the max, I felt like it was right next to me.

Lee was quick. Before it had the chance to touch any of us, Lee shoved the screwdriver into the walker's chest. It was wounded, but not dead. Lee finally jabbed the screwdriver into its eye, blood streaking the pavement beneath us. One down, and one to go.

We stormed over to the walker trapped between the wall and car. It frantically waved its arms out in front of its own body, trying to release himself from the pressure. Lucky for Lee, there was a fire axe that was attached against the motel wall, right next to the walker.

But first, he slammed the screwdriver into the walker's eye, making its head bang furiously onto the hood of the car.

"Dude, where'd your weapon go?" Glenn asks, shrugging his arms a bit.

"Into that ice pick sized hole," Lee muttered.

"Ha, holy shit," Glenn chuckled, "It's cool. Now you got _this," _Glenn added, pointing to the fire axe attached to the motel wall.

With the fire axe in his hands, Lee approaches the outdoor staircase of the motel, where the girl was supposedly trapped on the second-story.

"Why don't you guys lag behind; Just in case this goes to hell," Lee suggested, a quarter of the way up the stairs.

"Lee, don't worry, we'll be here for you," I assure him.

He nods, making his way all the way up the stairs. We followed him little by little. The door, in which Glenn claimed where the girl was inside, was trying to get breached by two walkers, continuously clawing their hands against the boarded-up door.

Without any hesitation, once the two walkers got their attention focused on Lee, he cleanly sliced through both of their hands, continuing over to the boarded up door.

"Rad," Glenn casually said in amazement, both of us closing in on Lee and the boarded up door.

"Hello in there? We're here to help," Lee announced, slamming onto the door with his fists.

"Please, just go away!" The voice begged, filled with tears and cries.

"If you open up we can take you somewhere safer. We've got a group in town," Lee offered.

"No! No! No! Please no!" She cried.

"She's in trouble!" Glenn exclaimed.

"Miss! We're coming in!" Lee stated, his axe chopping through the wooden plank that held the door locked. He turned the knob, but the door wouldn't budge. He continuously started kicking at the door.

"Stop, just stop. I'm coming out.." She announced, her last few words barely audible.

She reveals herself from her hiding place, coming out with such a constipated expression on her face, half of her stomach was torn open as well.

"You're hurt..." Lee pointed out.

"I...I said stay away," The woman sobbed.

"We need to get you help!" Glenn panicked.

"It's.. too late for that," She choked, place a hand over her wound.

"She's been bitten," Lee whispered to us.

"What?!" Glenn perked up, trying not to believe what he was hearing.

"I told you! I said go away. But you wouldn't just leave," The woman sniffled.

"Let's calm down, you could be fine..."

"I won't be fine! My boyfriend was bitten. You get sick and you die and you come back killing anything you can find!" She grimaced, cutting Lee off from his sentence.

"You have a boyfriend?" Glenn questioned in disbelief, receiving dirty looks from Lee and I.

"I don't want that. It's not Christian. Please, just leave me, please go," She begged.

"Okay, we'll leave. Just try and take care of yourself for whatever time you've got left," Lee said.

Her eyes had ogled to the pistol I was holding in my hand.

"You have a gun," She noted.

"Yeah, and?" I said, expecting her to finish my sentence.

"Can I borrow it?" She stammered. "I can just end this, you know."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Lee frowned.

"Please, I don't want to be one of them. They're... satanic," She sobbed.

"We can't let you do this to yourself," Lee counteracted.

"Then do it for me!" She practically yelled.

My eyes widened in horror as she inched up closer to me.

"It's just two seconds, one bullet, and I could be with my family..." Her arm reached out, trying to grab for the gun.

I backed away from her, my back leaning against the railing of the deck. The floor had suddenly broke apart under our weight, causing both the woman and my footing to lose control. Lee and Glenn instantly backed away from the crumbling floor. I shrieked for help as I dangled off the edge of the deck. My fingers felt like slipping off as each second went by.

"Don't worry Clem! I got you!" Lee yelled, rushing over to grab me by my forearm, slowly and easily pulling me up. Thankfully, I had avoided the two-story fall, possible life ending. He lifted me up to my feet, making sure that I had my full balance.

We both turned our heads to look at Glenn, continuously throwing up on the untouched parts of the deck. Bewilderment had filled the atmosphere, and the woman was no longer in sight. I looked below the broken part of the deck, to notice that the crazy woman had fell to her death head first, parts of her brain spilling out. Lee and I turned our heads away from the horrendous sight. Covering my own face, I violently thew up over the railing of the deck.

"I... I think we should get out of here," I croaked, wiping the excess vomit off my mouth.

"Agreed," Lee nodded.


	11. Chapter 11: How to Save a Life

**I apologize for the extremely long updates.**

**I've just started school, homework has been hell so far.**

**My updates may take place only on the weekends.**

* * *

We've all made it back from the Motel, unharmed luckily. My throat and stomach had still ached of vomit as each second passed. The three of us entered the drugstore through the back alley door, leading us to the office part of the drugstore. I held the door open for Glenn and Lee to walk through, the door that lead to the drugstore.

"Everything all right?" Kenny asked, as soon as Lee and Glenn set foot in the drugstore.

"Yeah. We had some close calls but Glenn is fine and… well… yeah…. We're okay," Lee shrugged.

"I've got a few cans of gas for your pickup in the trunk of my car," Glenn said glumly, staring down at the floor the entire time.

"Good to hear it," Kenny smiled. "Our "friend" is still in and out over there. He won't survive anymore stress," Kenny added, pointing his head at Larry, sitting at the corner of the drugstore.

"Then the next order of business is getting those pills out of the pharmacy," Lee said, walking over to the front door of the pharmacy with his new axe, meeting Doug outside, in front of the drugstore entrance.

From the corner of my eye, I notice Carley approaching me from the register counter, a huge smirk on her face. Although I couldn't really tell whether it was a playful or mischievous one. I was hoping that she wouldn't complain, or nag, or just say anything negative to me or about me.

"I'm glad to see that you're still alive," She complimented, to my surprise.

A looked away from her for a second, not very sure what to say next. "Uh... well, to be honest with you, I almost did, well, kind of died back there," I stammered uneasily, scratching the back of my head.

"Oh? How so? Walker get to you?" She asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"No no, it had nothing to do with that," I began. "We had to stay at the motel a little longer because Glenn wanted to save a bitten girl trapped in a motel room."

"Why would you guys even waste time trying to save her if she was bitten?"

"Well, this is how it all went down," I explained. "Lee and I found Glenn, but Glenn mentioned that he had found a girl in the motor inn while searching for the gasoline, who got trapped in one of the second story rooms. At the time, he didn't know that she was bitten, until we had found her. She had a huge walker bite covering half of her stomach."

"Damn. So… what exactly happened after you guys found her?"

"Yeah, about that, that's the screwed up part," I divulged. "You see, she wanted me to give her my gun, in order to commit suicide."

"I'm assuming you didn't give it to her then, huh," She presumed.

"Yeah, I didn't. That's when everything got all screwed up. She kept coming in closer to me, expanding her hand out in an attempt to grab my gun. I backed away, and the deck below us began to fall apart. I managed to hold on to a wooden plank, avoiding the fall. But as for the woman… She didn't make it. Glenn and I soon realized that she had died from the fall, head first, her head split open."

"Jesus. Well, I'm glad that you didn't give her your gun. That was very smart of you," She eulogized genuinely. "You know, you seem like an okay kid to me. I'm sorry we had gotten off to a rough start-"

"HOLY CRAP!" I heard Doug scream from the outside, cutting off Carley from finishing her sentence, as she turned to look at the sudden shriek. Doug, along with Lee, was seen rushing inside the drugstore with the sound of something jingling, slamming the door behind them shut. I could hear the gate rustling very loudly outside of the drugstore, some groaning as well.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Lilly's eyes widened, leaving her dad sitting at the corner of the drugstore alone at the moment.

Doug bent over, panting heavily while both of his hands leaned against his knees. Lee however, held the keys high up in the air, jingling them to Lilly's sight.

"God, you two are amazing," Lilly admired, "Let's get in there."

Lee, along with Lilly, went inside the office, getting to the locked pharmacy door. Doug stayed inside the drugstore, still heavily panting. He took a chair near the register counter, the "lump" on his stomach puffing in and out repeatedly.

"Clem, you got a second?" I heard Glenn call out from the corner from the pharmacy, leaning against the wall right next to the bathroom door.

"Sure, what's up Glenn?" I asked cheerfully, walking over to the corner alongside with him.

Something didn't seem right, however. He still kept looking down at the floor, refusing to look at me in the face. He leaned against the bathroom door, his leg crossed over the other, along with his own arms crossed.

"Why didn't you just give it to her?" He asked, a slight sullen tone in his voice.

"What do you mean, 'why didn't I just give it to her?'" I asked back, lifting up one of my eyebrows.

"You know… the girl at the motor inn… why couldn't you just give it to her?" He questioned, ill-tempered.

I thought about my response for a little moment, fearing that if I may say something wrong, he might snap at me or start bawling. "Glenn, I think that if you were in my position, you would've understood it a little better," I began, "Giving her my gun is like giving her consent to commit suicide, and I think that that's terrible. And besides – We didn't know what _exactly _she was gonna do with the gun, Glenn. Giving her the gun, she could've used it to shoot one of us, you know?"

He uncrossed his arms, letting them droop down to his sides. "I guess you're kind of right," He sighed, "But I still can't get over the way she died, you know. I don't think anyone should've ever go through their death like that. I don't know... It's just – It's just that I thought that giving her the gun in the first place would've been better. But now, I'm not so sure anymore Clem."

"Glenn, I'm sorry you feel that way," I expressed regretfully, "But now –"

All of us, including a feeble Larry, had our attention faced towards the pharmacy, a loud ringing noise consistently going on and off, like an alarm.

"We gotta hurry!" Lilly cried, both her and Lee frantically running through the pharmacy in the search for nitroglycerin pills.

"Fuck, fuck! What do we do?!" Glenn panicked, releasing himself from his depressed state.

"I – I don't know!" I stammered, looking around the drugstore to see if anyone has found a solution out of this mess.

"They're gonna start breaking in any second," Carley informed, grabbing a loaded magazine out of her purse and shoving it up her gun. "Clem, be sure to have your gun loaded."

"I will," I replied back, checking the ammo inside the magazine of my gun. _Loaded._

Lilly and Lee burst through the office door, Lilly grasping a bottle of nitroglycerin capsules. She rushed over to her dad, stuffing the capsules down his throat.

"Come on dad! We gotta go!" Lilly persisted, helping him up to stand.

"What do we do?!" I asked, loud enough so that anyone could answer. I could hear them all outside. Hordes of them. And the alarm still kept ringing and ringing inside the pharmacy.

"Duck, c'mon baby time to go," Katjaa rushed, cleaning off the remnants of the walker blood from her son's face, helping him up to stand.

"I'm gonna go get the truck pulled up 'round back," Kenny informed us all, walking near the office door.

"Do it fast – I got to get my dad out of here!" Lilly noted, her dad opening the alley door located in the office.

"I don't plan on dilly-dallying," Kenny replied in an annoyed way. "Honey, take Duck into the office and barricade the living hell out of the door behind me," He ordered. He approached me, Doug, Carley, and Glenn, all bunched together. "Glenn, when you hear me honking in the alley, start getting people out of here!"

"You got it," Glenn assured.

"Doug, Carley, and Lee, you guys make sure our defenses stay up 'til then," Kenny instructed. "And Lee, I better take your axe in case I run into any of them on the way to my truck," Kenny added, just before leaving the drugstore.

Lee, rushing near the entrance, grasped onto the axe that stood there next to the door. "Here you go," He says, tossing the axe over to Kenny.

We all turned our attention to the entrance of the drugstore, hearing a loud creak.

"Guys, that door is not locked anymore," Doug informed us all, nervously.

"Shit," Kenny muttered in frustration. "You three," He pointed at Doug, Glenn, and Carley, "Get on it! I'll get back as fast as I can!"

The three hastily ran over to the entrance, their weight pressing against the door as the walkers kept beating against it from the other side.

"Stay away from the windows," Lee warned me, leaving me by the refreshments stand for the time being.

"Glenn, we need your help; please hurry!" Katjaa squealed, sounding like it had come from the back alley.

Without hesitation, Lee hurried to the entrance door, taking in Glenn's place as he went to go and help Katjaa.

"Hey Lee…" Doug croaked out, "If we don't make it through this, you should know that… I think you're a great guy," He admitted flatly.

"We _WILL _make it through this," Lee corrected through breaths.

"Doug, if we don't make it through this, you should know –"

Carley was eventually cut off from her sentence, as a walker pushed at the door fiercely, causing Lee to get pushed off the door. Struggling, he managed to get the door back closed.

"I should know what?" Doug questioned.

"Huh?" Carley questioned him back.

"You said I should know –"

"Shit!" Carley fumed, as one of the display shelves of the store were knocked down by the outside, walkers, of course. "On it," She said, preparing to push the shelf back against the wall. But her eyes shortly widened in horror, beginning to pull her piece out.

"Are you sure?"

"Oh shit," Carley gasped, as she begun to shoot the walkers pouring in from the outside.

"Wha…? Oh shit!" Lee frantically turned his head, seeing walkers tremble to the ground as Carley shot them in the head. She rushed over by the refreshments stand, taking out the walkers pouring in from this side.

"Clementine!" Lee yelled, "Can you look for something to stick in between the handles? Something real strong, okay?!"

"You got it," I responded, beginning to search through the display shelves for anything useful. _No luck yet. _I searched through the register counter. _Nothing._

"Clementine, did you find anything yet?!" Lee cried.

"Nothing! Oh… wait a second," I quaked, running inside the office door, realizing that I haven't searched for anything inside there, yet. I noticed Lee's dad's cane, just leaning there against the wall, almost as if it were untouched. Lee could use it to stick in between the door handles. I wasn't so sure, however. This cane meant a lot to Lee, as of now, his father being dead and all. Sort of like being a memento to him, as my cap is my memento of my dad.

But, if this cane can successfully prevent walkers from barging in to the main entrance, then it's worth actually bringing this to Lee.

Which I chose to do.

I picked up the light cane, running over to Lee who was now struggling to keep the door closed, alone. Carley was over by the refreshments stand, shooting walkers that poured in the store. As for Doug, he tried to keep the window by the entrance fortified, as walkers kept attempting to break it down.

"I found something!" I exclaimed, handing Lee the cane.

He grabs it from my hands, sticking it between the door handles. It seemed to hold out the walkers from outside, _for now._

"AHH! GET OFF! GET OFF!" Doug cried in plea, as a walker grasped onto his shoulders, attempting to pull him out through the broken window.

"Shit! I'm out! I'm out!" Carley yelped, extending her hand out to reach for her purse from the counter, but a walker had trapped her ankle in its grip, "Lee! Help! Ammo! In my purse!"

Everything seemed to be in slow motion. Doug and Carley both hysterically tried to release themselves from the walkers' grips. I was stuck in the middle between the two, and Lee frantically looked back and forth between them, panic stricken.

He rushed over to Doug, helping to release him from the walkers grip. "Clementine, help Carley!" He yelled, pulling Doug off of the walker's grip onto his shirt.

I quickly nodded, running over to Carley's side. I had thought about shooting the walker that had her ankle caught in their grip; but it would be too risky, deeming that I could accidentally shoot Carley's ankle off. There was also her purse… the thing she kept frantically reaching for.

I grabbed the purse, digging through all her crap in search of a loaded magazine. _Nothing yet._

Screw this.

I turned the purse over, dumping out all its contents onto the register counter, until I saw a magazine fall out along with all her crap.

Grabbing the magazine, I tossed it over to Carley's stretched out arm, in which she successfully caught. Reloading the gun, she shot the walker that grabbed onto her ankle, along with another that was seen approaching her from the outside.

"Let's go!" Kenny yelled, bursting the office door open.

Carley, standing on the other side of the drugstore, without looking back, ran over inside the office door.

As for Doug, Lee, and I, we were the only ones left inside the drugstore. I ran over to the office door that was held open by Larry, but I was suddenly tripped over. Looking back, I noticed that a walker had grabbed onto my ankle. I kept squirming and squirming out of its grip, but it wouldn't budge.

Lee rushed over by me stomping on the walker's head repeatedly. Doug, briefly stopping his path to the open office door, ran over by my side. As Lee finished stomping on the walker's head, Doug grabbed onto both of my arms, pulling me up to stand on my feet.

"Thanks," I tell him, expressing my gratitude.

"Don't mention it, kid," He replied, "But right now, we gotta move," He says, placing his hand on my back lightly, leading me inside the open office door.

Lee followed us behind to the office door, only to be stopped by Larry, placing his large hand against Lee's chest.

"You're not coming with us, you son of a bitch!" Larry hollered, knocking him down to the floor with a kiss from his fist.

Something was wrong. The "Supposedly killed" walker that had trapped my ankle in its grip earlier was now crawling gradually to a knocked-out Lee.

"No!" I bellowed, pushing Larry out of my way, advancing towards Lee. I pulled my gun out, raising it over to shoot at the walker's head, who was almost practically on top of Lee. He noticed me pulling my gun out. He extended his arm out above him, thinking that I was going to shoot him.

***Splat***

To his surprise, streaks of walker blood stained his cheeks, a bullet penetrating its skull. I held my hand out in front of him, gesturing for him to grab onto it.

"Come on Lee," I persisted, curling back four of my fingers, hoping that he would grab onto it.

Expecting it, he had grabbed onto my hand, quickly getting up. The both of us rushed inside the office. Taking one last glance inside the drugstore, which was now filled with walkers, Lee slammed the door closed, leading me outside to the back alley.

We made it.

Lee had successfully managed to save Doug, as did I for Carley.

All of us made it out of here.

_Alive._

_No one ending up becoming walker dinner._


	12. Chapter 12: What did you say?

"You think that you'll be able to fix it?" I inquired, holding the walkie talkie in his view.

He took it in his hands; examining the object carefully. "I think that I might, but it might take me some time do so. The damage doesn't look _that _bad," Doug answered, holding onto the walkie talkie for now.

After the whole incident at the drugstore, we all had managed to find refuge here at the motel. It wasn't completely fortified, but we were planning on securing the entrances. Lilly was already working on cleaning the corpses of the motel lot, just in case they weren't _actually _dead. And besides, they smelled awful. Better to have them out anyways.

I readjusted myself in the lawn chair, feeling a little bump in my butt pocket. I recognized the small, familiar feeling. _My phone. _I remember how the battery was dead, and how I didn't have a charger for it. This guy, Doug, seemed like he was an expert at technology and stuff. Maybe, by chance, he could have a charger on him.

My lips began to move, but no sound came out, as I got too distracted by the roaring of an engine, seeing a pizza delivery car pull out of the motel lot. Seemed like the familiar car that Lee, Glenn, and I used to get out of the motel earlier.

"So, uh, Doug?" I began, taking my phone out of my butt pocket, "Do you, by any chance, have a – oh god…" I pouted, taking in the view of the crack on my phone.

"Huh? What's wrong?" He inquired, placing his full attention on me.

I held the phone up to his view, showing him the part where the screen got cracked.

"Oh, come on, don't mope," He pleaded. "It's just a little crack; it's not the end of the world."

"Yeah, okay, sure," I replied sarcastically.

"Come on Clem. Look on the bright side. At least the whole entire screen didn't get cracked," He pointed out. "Anyways, what did you want to ask me earlier?"

"Oh yeah, earlier," I said, snapping back to the moment when I was about to ask Doug for a charger. "Do you have a charger for this type of phone?"

"You know Clem, I _might_," He admitted. "It might be along inside those boxes, you know, the ones filled with supplies."

"Yeah…"

As he walked off in the direction of the boxes, just under the second story deck of the motel, he paused his trip over to the boxes for a brief moment, turning around to face me.

"Hey, um, I just wanted to say… I'm glad that you saved Carley back there at the drugstore," He confessed awkwardly.

"Yeah, me too," I smiled.

"I mean, I had like the biggest crush on her it would've been a disaster if she got eaten –"

"Huh? What did you say?" I questioned, not believing the words that I was hearing.

"What? Oh, um, uh, nothing… never mind," He answered back sheepishly, "Let's just forget I had ever said that…." He deeply blushed, continuing his path to the boxes.

I smirked at him once he turned away from my view.

_I know Doug's secret….. _I chimed over and over in my head. _Wonder what Carley's gonna think about this…_

Shortly after finishing his talk with Carley, Lee walks over to me, with a smile on his face, which made me lighten up slightly from all of the terror that has happened in the past couple of hours.

"How you doing, Clementine?" He asks, looking down at me in his full height.

"Well, I'm fine, considering that my walkie talkie broke, and my phone screen got cracked. Doug's working on all of that though," I replied honestly. "You still have the walkie, right?"

He scratched the back of his neck, turning his head away in fear, "No, I don't."

"Glenn had it last, right? Where is he?"

"Well, um, he kind of sort of left… to Atlanta -"

"What?!" I interrupted in shock.

"Don't worry, Clem, we might be able to find another one."

"Yeah right, like I see that happening anytime soon," I pouted.

"Come on, don't cry," He soothed, bringing me into his arms into a short hug. "If we ever have to go on supply runs, I'll try to find a walkie talkie for you. Sound good?"

"Yeah," I nod, "Thanks."

"Anyways," He began, changing the conversation subject, "Thanks for picking me up when I was knocked out at the drugstore. You also did a great job, as to saving Carley's life."

"Thanks," I responded, "Hearing things like that make me feel like I actually have a purpose in my life," I grinned. "But that was stupid though; I can't believe Larry just punches you back into a drugstore infested with walkers after you just saved his life. What an ungrateful… dick," I crossed my arms.

"Yeah, well, I guess that's the way he just is," He sighed.

But from the corner of my eye, I see Larry leaning against a motel door, watching the both of us converse the entire time. My heart had pounded faster, in fear that he might've heard what we said about him, what _I _said about him.

"He's watching us…" I whispered, not wanting to gain any more suspicion from Larry.

"Who's watching us?" He whispered back, quirking an eyebrow.

"Larry…" I mouthed, causing his jaw to drop.

"Shit," He muttered.

"Think he heard us?" I questioned.

"Lee, come here for a second," Larry called out to him, causing both of our eyes to widen.

"He _definitely _heard us," I stated out in fear.

"Dammit, just, let me go deal with this," He sighed, making his way towards Larry.

Shortly after Lilly was done cleaning up all the corpses, she made ways towards me. _Oh god, please no… Anyone but her…_

She stood there, standing in front of me and staring down at me slumped into my lawn chair.

"Um, hi," I started out awkwardly, filling in the awkward silence between the both of us.

"Hey," She greeted back casually, as if she forgot the whole confrontation I had between her dad at the drugstore.

"So, um, I'm sorry I got off at a rough start with your dad," I apologized.

"You know, it's not entirely your fault; He's just like that to everyone. Don't take it personally," She mentioned, playing it off as if it wasn't such a big deal.

"Well then, I appreciate you not beating me up over it," I expressed.

"Yeah, me too. I mean, I really don't understand why he would take things to the extreme with… with a kid," She sighed, shaking her head down at the floor. "Even I thought that whole confrontation was messed up, to be honest with you. Oh… and I wouldn't talk about him behind his back, if I were you. Just a little word of advice. Things can get fucked up if he catches you."

"Yeah, I figured that out already," I tell her.

"I guess I'll see you later, Clem."

Taking one last look at me, she nods, trudging over towards Lee who had just finished his conversation with Larry.

"Hey Lee, do you have a second?" She questioned him softly.

Lee looked back and forth between Lilly and Larry, biting his lip and gritting his teeth seeing Larry glare at him from the distance.

"Y'know Lee, my dad would be dead if it weren't for you," Lilly expressed gratefully, "All of us in this group are lucky to have you be a part of it."

He smiled upon her. "Thanks, Lilly. That means a lot."

"I hope that's the sound of us winning this thing," Kenny interrupted the two out of nowhere.

"Me too," Lilly nodded.

"This motor inn's pretty damn defendable," Kenny pointed out. "We block off the entrances with some cars and keep someone on watch and we could stay here till the military rolls through."

"I actually agree with that plan," Lilly concurred, walking to the entrance of the motel along with the other men.

"Me too," Lee added.

"We've got beds, we've got water and most importantly, we've got light. There are worse places to call home," Kenny informed.

"Yeah, you're right," Lilly agreed, "You know guys, I think it's all gonna be okay."

But that had changed shortly after.

"Coincidentally," all of the power of the motel went off, completely shutting off the artificial lights that stood around the parking lot of the motel. As well as the streetlights. It was a blackout, and we all had no idea what to do next.

Everything was _not _gonna be fine.

* * *

**A/N:**

**End of Episode 1.**


	13. Chapter 13: Cold and Hungry

**A/N:**

**I'm not so sure if this matters to you all...**

**But in my game choices, I've sided with Lilly most of the time.**

**She struck me as a better leader, the think-before-act type.**

**I'll try to keep the Lilly/Kenny confrontations equal, trying not to pick a side, to those who have sided with Kenny rather than Lilly.**

* * *

About three months have passed since we resided here at the motel.

Doug got my phone to work again, thankfully with the charger he had found.

Everything seemed peaceful, overall.

I've seen to have grown a liking to everyone in the motel group. Even Lilly; who was the daughter of the most hated guy in our group.

You guessed it.

Larry.

He was still an ass, basically, well, all the time. There was no reasoning with him. Let him have his way if you want to get on his good side; his daughter's good side as well. She can also understand how much of an ass he can be.

Oh, and we met this guy named Mark. Lilly found him walking past the entrance of the motel while on watch. He carried so much food and supplies with him, which is basically the reason why Lilly invited him in to join our group. He was also a military soldier down at Warner Robbins before the apocalypse had started; just like Lilly. Ironically, they don't even know each other.

My trust with Lee has grown immensely in the past three months. He now calls me his "Sweet pea," which I think is very cute. I didn't really care if he had murdered someone in the past. He didn't look like a psychopath, or someone who had the occupation of killing. He seemed like the guy who would make mistakes, just like the rest of us here.

Searching through the motel rooms, I've found a long-sleeved undershirt. It came in handy, deeming that it became slightly colder in the past couple of months. As well as a soccer ball. I was filled with joy once I saw the black-and-white checkered ball just laying aside in the corner of the motel room. Yeah, I played soccer before all of this madness had started. My parents had signed me up. I didn't enjoy playing it much, but ironically, this soccer ball brings me back to the time when everything was normal.

Normal.

When everything was once back to normal.

I wish I could've had one last, final moment with my parents' right before they had left to Savannah. At least, being able to say something meaningful to both of them.

And those words would be:

I love you. I love you both so much.

Sadly, I've never had the chance to tell both of them that. Or maybe not enough times.

It was too late.

They're both gone.

It saddens me that I have to come across the truth when it comes to them.

Now that they're most likely dead, it breaks my heart that they've never heard those words come out of my mouth.

* * *

We were running low on food; people got hungrier by the second. The food supply Mark once had was now gone, and to Lilly, he seemed useless to have in the group now.

We had enough food to last us about five more days.

But that was it.

Lee, Mark, and Kenny went out into the woods in hopes to find something, like a deer or whatever, so that all of us can eat.

Which left the rest of us here at the motel, cold and starving.

* * *

"Duck! Hey! Over here!" I shouted, waving my hands up and down in the air, urging him to pass me the ball.

He picked up the soccer ball by his side, adjusting the ball in front of him. I felt like I had to say something, like, "You can't use your hands in soccer," or something. But, on the other hand, he was just a little boy. I just decided to go with it instead.

He feebly kicks the ball over to me with the tip of his own foot, causing the ball to run diagonally out of our path between us, rolling underneath the RV Lilly was sitting on while on watch.

"No, Duck," I sighed in frustration, reaching for the ball stuck underneath the RV, "You're supposed to kick the ball like this." The ball, resting in my hands, I placed it in front of me. Placing all of my attention on the ball, my right leg takes a strong swing, the side of my foot passing it over to Duck. But when I look up, the ball goes nowhere near Duck. Instead, the powerful kick slams into one of the wooden planks, just by the fortifications.

_And Larry._

I felt the fear and tension grow inside of me.

He briefly pauses, turning around to glare at both Duck and I.

"Could both of you little shits try not to play in my work area?" He snarled, receiving an angry look from Lilly.

"Dad, they were just playing a game -"

"I don't give a shit," He cuts her off. "While I'm busy here working my ass off, these two little fuckers ruined my work. I gotta start all over again now."

"Sorry, uh, Larry," I stammered, picking the ball up and away from his workspace, "Won't happen again."

"It better not," He growled, resuming his work on the fence fortifications.

"So Duck," I started, continuing our game, "You wanna take another shot at passing the ball?"

"Yeah, sure Clementine," He nods happily. "I kick it with the side of my foot, right?"

"Yeah. Try to use your dominant leg to kick the ball though."

"What does that mean?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

I thought to myself a moment, trying to find a way to explain this in "little kid" terms. "Which hand do you write with?"

"My right, why?"

"Then that's the leg that you kick with, Duck," I explained, tossing the soccer ball over to him. "Give it your best shot."

He successfully catches the soccer ball in his hands, adjusting it down it front of his two feet. Raising his right leg up in the air, he takes a kick at the ball, his boot flying off in the process.

"Clementine!" He shrieked, "My boot!" His body wobbled as he balanced himself on his left leg.

"Don't worry Duck, I got it," I tell him, rushing over to his lop sided boot. I grasped onto it, handing it over to Duck's stretched out arms.

Once he finished sliding his right foot into his boot, his face had shortly stuck with fear. "Uhh, Clementine?"

"What is it, Duck?" I asked, following the direction of his eyesight. We both soon shared the same facial expression.

_Oh..._

In front of us, we saw a very pissed-off looking Larry, a soccer ball being clutched in his hand. With a quick flick of his wrist, he did not hesitate to raise the claw of his hammer against the soccer ball, penetrating into it. Pulling it out, he squeezed the soccer ball, deflating it. I looked back in Duck's direction, seeming as if he was about to cry.

"Dad, what the fuck?!" Lilly called out from the top of the RV, climbing down from the ladder. "You need to chill out; they didn't mean any trouble."

"Yeah, really man," Doug piped in, "Not cool."

"You really want to know what's 'not cool?'" Larry barked, "That I've asked these two thumb suckers _nicely _to stay out of my workspace. And what do they do? They test me. They test me to see whether I am stupid or not-"

"Dad, this is ridiculous! It was an _accident-"_

"Guys, this is getting out of hand," Doug added in, pausing his work on the fence.

While the three of them were up and arguing, I turned my head over to look at a saddened Katjaa, her old and frail body slumped into a couch out in the motel lot. Her head was pointed down at the floor, her head shaking slightly. Her facial age lines creased against her skin, her facial expression reading, _if only the others were here..._

"Would everyone just please shut the fuck up?!" Carley demanded, now becoming part of the tension. "This is stupid! You're getting yourself worked up over a fucking soccer ball-"

"Which interrupted my work!" Larry snapped back, his spit showering her face. "That ball knocked the planks of wood down, the ones that I used to fortify those fences! You have no idea how hard it is to fortify those fences while you are cold and hungry. I don't see _you _doing any of the heavy lifting."

"We're sorry, okay?" I tell him in nervousness, "We didn't mean no-"

"Wait, everyone..." Lilly whispered, "Be quite for a-"

"Don't you tell me to be quiet Lilly!" Larry shouted.

"No dad, I'm serious!" She hissed in a quiet tone, her head pointing towards the trees that stood in front of the entrance of the Motel. Everyone in the motel lot instantly froze, turning their attention to the trees. They seemed to slightly rustle against each other, along with the sounds of twigs snapping by the second. "You guys hear that?"

A petrified Duck ran into his mother's arms, clutching onto her jacket tightly. Lilly raised her sniper rifle to the sound in the woods. Everyone was filled with a mix of bewilderment and fear, as their eyes widened at the sound coming from the woods.

Something was coming.

But we didn't know exactly what it was.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Short chapter, I know. **

**But it's all I could do this weekend.**

**I'll try to have a longer one posted up next weekend.**


End file.
